TORONTO — With the holidays in full swing, airports around the ***** are busier than ever, with central hubs like New York, London and Paris no doubt seeing their fair share of *********. But did any of these make the list of busiest air routes in the *****?
Surprisingly, no.
According to IATA reports, the most in-demand flight on earth is the quick 280-mile circuit from Seoul Gimpo International to Jeju International in South Korea, which saw more than 11 million journeys in 2015. Second on the list is Sapporo-Tokyo Haneda with 7.8 million journeys made, while Fukuoka-Tokyo Haneda rounded out the top three with 5,961,277 flights. In fact, nine out of the 10 on the list are Asian-specific routes. London, New York and Paris didn’t even make the cut.
Here’s the full list:
1. Jeju International – Seoul Gimpo International (one-way capacity 2016): 6,561,314
2. Sapporo New Chitose – Tokyo Haneda: 6,209,366
3. Fukuoka – Tokyo Haneda: 5,961,277
4. Melbourne – Sydney Kingsford Smith: 5,067,167
5. Taipei Taiwan Taoyuan International – Hong Kong International: 4,146,547
6. Delhi – Mumbai: 4,143,639
7. Ho Chi Minh City – Hanoi: 4,141,322
8. Beijing Capital International – Shanghai Hongqiao International: 3,962,081
9. Surabaya – ******* Soekarno-Hatta: 3,849,866
10. Tokyo Haneda – Okinawa Naha: 3,784,546