These are lists of the busiest air routes by the number of passengers flown, by seat capacity and by aircraft movements.
Global statistics
By number of passengers
Top 20 busiest air routes
Busiest international air routes by origin-and-destination passenger volume (airport pairs)
Busiest routes by region
By aircraft movements
The following are the lists of the world's busiest air routes based on the number of scheduled flights in both directions. Note that these statistics do not consider the number of passengers carried.
Regional statistics
Europe (2011-2021)
Busiest air routes inside the EU, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Iceland and Norway*
* Figures are only available for EU countries, Switzerland, Iceland and Norway.
:United Kingdom has not reported for 2021 and parts of 2020, due to
Brexit
Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...
, but data are available from EU/Eurostat countries for flights between them and UK, but not for UK domestic or UK to outside Europe. The multiple airports of London lower the airport-to-airport figures, and the busiest UK domestic was in 2019 Heathrow-Edinburgh with 1,196,921.
:Among other European countries, based on airport statistics, no other country than Russia, Ukraine and Turkey can have domestic routes with more than 1 million passengers.
:The St-Petersburg
Pulkovo Airport -
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
(three airports) route was used by 2,965,331 passengers in 2013.
**Madrid-Barcelona had 4,627,000 passengers in 2007, meaning a reduction by 34% in 2010, partly because of a new
high-speed railway
High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, line ...
. The decline has continued from 560 weekly flights in 2010 to 380 in 2012.
[West-to-East traffic shift continues for summer 2012 , EUROCONTROL]
Eurocontrol.int. Retrieved on 2013-07-16.
Busiest air routes between an airport in Europe (EU, UK, Switzerland, Iceland and Norway) and outside Europe
For routes from EU, UK, Switzerland, Iceland and Norway to other countries inside Europe except to Turkey, the busiest was in 2019 Paris/de Gaulle–Moscow/Sheremetyevo with 830,980
Busiest air routes in or from Europe by city pairs
*London includes City, Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, Stansted and Southend airports
*New York includes Kennedy and Newark airports
*Paris includes Charles De Gaulle and Orly airports
*Barcelona includes El Prat and Girona airports
*Berlin includes Schönefeld (from 2020 Brandenburg) and Tegel airports
*Moscow includes Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo airports
*Turkey is not included even if Istanbul–Izmir has (as of 2019) more passengers than London–Dublin, because all its domestic routes are mostly or entirely inside Asia
Argentina (2017)
Busiest international air routes in Argentina
Busiest domestic air routes in Argentina
Australia (2019)
;Busiest domestic air routes in Australia
(all passengers including connecting):
;Busiest international air routes in Australia
(all passengers including connecting)
Colombia (2017)
;Busiest domestic air routes in Colombia
;Busiest international air routes in Colombia
India (2019-2021)
Busiest domestic air routes from/to Indian cities
Busiest international air routes from/to Indian cities
Mexico (2018-2021)
;Busiest domestic air routes in Mexico (passengers)
;Busiest international air routes from / to Mexico (passengers)
Turkey (2019)
Busiest domestic and international air routes
During 2019,
Atatürk–
Izmir route had 728,279 passengers as the old
Istanbul airport
Istanbul Airport ( tr, İstanbul Havalimanı, ) is the main international airport serving Istanbul, Turkey. It is located in the Arnavutköy district on the European side of the city.
All scheduled commercial passenger flights were transfer ...
in Atatürk was also serving the traffic during this year. The new
Istanbul Airport
Istanbul Airport ( tr, İstanbul Havalimanı, ) is the main international airport serving Istanbul, Turkey. It is located in the Arnavutköy district on the European side of the city.
All scheduled commercial passenger flights were transfer ...
in Havalimani was opened on 6 April 2019.
United States (September 2014August 2015)
;Busiest air routes by city pairs within the United States
The statistics below are based on metro areas, not individual airports.
See also
*
List of the busiest airports
*
List of busiest airports by aircraft movements
*
List of busiest airports by passenger traffic
The world's busiest airports by passenger traffic are measured by total passengers (data from Airports Council International), defined as passengers enplaned plus passengers deplaned plus direct-transit passengers. Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta In ...
*
List of the busiest airports in Europe
This is a list of the 100 busiest airports in Europe, ranked by total passengers per year, including both terminal and transit passengers. Data is for 2021 and is sourced individually for each airport and from a variety of sources, normally the n ...
*
List of the busiest airports in the Nordic countries
This is a list of the 100 busiest airports in the Nordic countries by passengers per year, aircraft movements per year and freight and mail tonnes per year.
The list also includes yearly statistics for the busiest metropolitan airport systems and ...
1
*
List of the busiest airports in the Baltic states
This is a list of the busiest airports in the Baltic states in terms of total number of Passengers, Aircraft movements and Freight and Mail Tonnes per year. The statistics includes major airports in the Baltic States with commercial regular traffi ...
1
1 Includes very detailed statistics regarding busiest passenger air routes to/from and within this region
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:World's Busiest Passenger Air Routes
Aviation statistics
Aviation-related lists
Busiest Passenger Air Routes