From London to Paris, winging through the busiest air routes in the world

The world’s busiest air route isn’t London to Paris or New York to Los Angeles, but the trip between Seoul and a tiny island off the coast of South Korea. 

Planes made 65,000 trips between the Korean capital and Jeju island — a journey of little more than an hour — in 2017, equivalent to 178 flights a day, according to data from OAG Aviation Worldwide. 

That’s nearly double the 35,000 trips on the busiest North American route: Los Angeles to San Francisco. Asian cities dominated the list, cementing the region’s status as the world’s fastest-growing travel market. 

FLYING HIGH

 

Asia dominates the world's busiest air routes

Here are some of the busiest air routes 

Total jet departures and arrivals in 2017

 

FLYING HIGH

Asia dominates the world's busiest air routes