World's most popular Airline Route

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fountainhall

World's most popular Airline Route

Post by fountainhall »

Another set of airline lists. This time quite interesting. What would you guess was the most travelled route between two points anywhere in the world in 2017? SFO to LAX? LGA to Chicago ORD? Being to Shanghai?

The most travelled route is in Asia. And it was by far the busiest route with an average of 180 scheduled flights per day ferrying 13,460,306 passengers between Seoul and the southern Korean island of Jeju. Nest most travelled? Melbourne to Sydney with 9,090,941 passengers. All the others in the top ten list based on actual passenger numbers are Asian -

3. Sapporo to Tokyo Haneda - 8,726,502
4. Fukuoka to Tokyo Haneda - 7,864,000
5. Mumbai to Delhi - 7,129,943
6. Beijing Capital to Shanghai Hongqiao - 6,833,684
7. Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh - 6,769,823
8. Hong Kong to Taipei Taiyuan - 6,719,030
9. Jakarta to Juanda Surabaya - 5,271,304
10. Tokyo Haneda to Okinawa - 5,269,481

And the most travelled international route? Only two are outside Asia with London Heathrow to Dubai coming in 6th and London Heathrow to JFK 9th. Top of that list by a long stretch is HKG to Taipei. Others include Jakarta to Singapore Changi (2), HKG to Shanghai Pudong (3), BKK to HKG (5), HKG to Seoul Incheon (7), HKG to Singapore Changi (8) and HKG to Beijing Capital (10).

BKK obviously has a massive job ahead of it if the AOT and the government still want it to become the top Asian hub airport. I cannot see any way it can get anywhere close to HKG which is already building its 3rd runway and new terminal.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/ ... index.html
Jun

Re: World's most popular Airline Route

Post by Jun »

I would guess there are several different reasons for the routes being in the top 10.

The Korean example looks like domestic tourism.
Some of the Japanese cases might include a mix of people taking connecting flights for international travel & domestic travel.
Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh, probably domestic travel, with the point that doing the trip by land would be hopelessly uncompetitive in duration. The train would be uncomfortable & very slow. Not a realistic alternative.

As for the Thai government wanting Bangkok to become the top Asian Hub, I presume that is empty political posturing. If they actually wanted that outcome, they would be managing it to achieve that objective.
Immigration would be reliably swift. Ditto security. The third runway would be under construction. A proper second terminal with airbridges would be planned.
Admittedly, I'm perfectly happy using it, but to get to number 1 hub in Asia requires a change in management style.
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Re: World's most popular Airline Route

Post by gerefan »

These busy routes are well worth while knowing about...in order to avoid those Airports.

I have travelled from London to Bangkok and back through Dubai a few times now...never again. It is appalling. All flight go to remote parking and you get bused to the terminal.
If you are on an A380 (more than likely with Emirates) then a full A380 needs something like 10 buses to decant 500 pax.
Awful experience.
Jun

Re: World's most popular Airline Route

Post by Jun »

I've never tried going through the middle east & would need one hell of a discount over a direct flight to go there.

I can think of a long list of disadvantages, but that's going off topic.
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Re: World's most popular Airline Route

Post by gerefan »

I went through the Middle East because of the convenience of a new service from an airport only 15 minutes drive from home.
I usually go from Heathrow which is 1 hours drive, but because of the appalling congestion getting there you must allow a minimum of 3 hours. The same can happen on your return journey too.

However as I said I won’t be doing it again...sigh
traveller123

Re: World's most popular Airline Route

Post by traveller123 »

If you are in the UK and are not close enough to fly from Heathrow/Gatwick you have to change planes somewhere when you are flying to Bangkok.
From Manchester the Qatar, Etihad or Emirates flights enable you to stretch your legs and walk around about half way through your journey, although it does cross your mind if there is more of a terrorist threat at the Middle East airports
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Re: World's most popular Airline Route

Post by Gaybutton »

traveller123 wrote:it does cross your mind if there is more of a terrorist threat at the Middle East airports
Actually the number of airport terrorist attacks in the Middle East are vastly outnumbered by airport terrorist attacks in other parts of the world. Even most airline hijackings originated in areas other then the Middle East.
fountainhall

Re: World's most popular Airline Route

Post by fountainhall »

gerefan wrote:These busy routes are well worth while knowing about...in order to avoid those Airports
The problem with overcrowding is a common one - airports like BKK and HKG reaching capacity long before planned.

I can't avoid a few of those airports, and frankly I have never known major problems with masses of passengers. In many, domestic passengers are serviced by different terminals or even different airports.

The Seoul/Jeju route is served almost exclusively from Seoul's old airport Kimpo and so does not affect operations at the major international transfer hub at Incheon. Singapore's Changi is not voted top airport in the world for nothing. I have always found it easy - and very pleasant. Tokyo's Haneda is worth any possible crush because it is so close to the city centre and you avoid the long trek out to Narita. HKG works extremely smoothly. Its problem is that delays on take off and some stacking before landing is now not uncommon. That will only be solved with the new runway and terminal.

The one airport I don't like is Beijing Capital Airport's Terminal 3. Not because of passenger numbers but because it is just so massive. Depending on the landing runway, taxing can take up to half an hour and there are so many gates. Yet even though it is only 10 years old, Beijing is building an even bigger airport. Set to open at the end of next year, Beijing's Daxing International airport will be the world's largest with 8 runways serving up to 100 million passengers.

In the Middle East I have only used Doha with Qatar. It's big but no more so than HKG. If you're in business class, the lounge is huge with several restaurants and the other usual amenities. If not, it's one problem is transferring from a bus gate to a terminal gate with a short connection. But only once since the new terminal opened have I had a bus gate. I will happily use it again.
traveller123 wrote:although it does cross your mind if there is more of a terrorist threat at the Middle East airports
I agree with GB. I have been through Istanbul, Bahrain, Sharjah, Doha, Amman and Tehran and never felt there might be a security problem. I was more concerned about Athens and would not now consider Cairo.
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