World's busiest passenger air routes revealed

The Asia-Pacific region dominated the rankings of the world's busiest passenger air routes. Photo / Getty Images

The world's busiest passenger air routes have been revealed – and it turns out one small Asia-Pacific island is a hotbed of flight activity.

The study, conducted by Routesonline, used data from OAG Schedules Analyster and Sabre Market Intelligence to identify the top 500 busiest routes. All of the top ten were found in the Asia-Pacific region.

The world's busiest air route was determined to be the South Korean domestic route between Jeju and Seoul Gimpo (CJU-GMP) with 13,460,305 passengers in 2017, a 9.4 per cent rise on the previous 12 months.

The world's busiest air route was determined to be the South Korean domestic route between the volcanic island of Jeju (pictured) and Seoul Gimpo. Photo / Getty Images

The volcanic island of Jeju is a popular domestic holiday destination, boasting beautiful beaches, countryside walks and seaside accommodation. The 449km route sees an average of about 37,000 passengers a day on about scheduled flights – that's around one flight every eight minutes on average.

The Jeju to Seoul route carried over 4 million more passengers than the second busiest route in the world, between Melbourne and Sydney Kingsford Smith (MEL-SYD).

The third busiest route was between Sapporo and Tokyo Haneda in Japan – overall, three routes involving Tokyo Haneda appeared in the top ten.

The only international flight to appear on the top ten was between Hong Kong and Taiwan Taoyuan (HKE –TPE).

In the international rankings, Asia-Pacific flights continued to dominate, with eight of the top ten located in the region.

Following HKE-TPE in first place was Jakarta to Singapore, which carried 4,810,602 passengers in 2017. Hong Kong to Shanghai was a close third place, with 4,162,347 passengers.

London's Heathrow was the only European airport in the top ten, with Dubai to London Heathrow ranked 6th and New York JFK to London Heathrow in 9th.

Top 10 Busiest Scheduled Airline Routes in the World

1. Jeju (Jeju International Airport)—Seoul (Gimpo International Airport): 13,460,306 passengers

2. Melbourne (Melbourne Airport)—Sydney (Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport): 9,090,941 passengers

3. Saporro (New Chitose Airport)—Tokyo (Haneda Airport): 8,726,502 passengers

4. Fukuoka (Fukoaka Airport)—Tokyo (Haneda Airport): 7,864,000 passengers

5. Mumbai (Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport)—Delhi (Indira Gandhi International Airport): 7,129,943 passengers

6. Beijing (Beijing Capital International Airport)—Shanghai (Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport): 6,833,684 passengers

7. Hanoi (Noi Bai International Airport)—Ho Chi Minh City (Tan Son Nhat International Airport): 6,769,823 passengers

8. Hong Kong (Hong Kong International Airport)—Taiwan (Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport): 6,719,030 passengers

9. Jakarta (Soekarno–Hatta International Airport)—Surabaya (Juanda International Airport): 5,271,304 passengers

10. Tokyo (Haneda Airport)—Okinawa (Naha Airport): 5,269,481 passengers

Top 10 Busiest Scheduled International Air Routes in the World

1. Hong Kong (Hong Kong International Airport)—Taiwan (Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport): 6,719,030 passengers

2. Jakarta (Soekarno–Hatta International Airport)—Singapore (Changi Airport): 4,810,602 passengers

3. Hong Kong (Hong Kong International Airport)—Shanghai (Pudong International Airport): 4,162,347 passengers

4. Kuala Lumpur (Kuala Lumpur International Airport)—Singapore (Changi Airport): 4,108,824 passengers

5. Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi Airport)—Hong Kong (Hong Kong International Airport): 3,438,628 passengers

6. Dubai (Dubai International Airport)—London (Heathrow Airport): 3,210,121 passengers

7. Hong Kong (Hong Kong International Airport)—Seol (Incheon International Airport): 3,198,132 passengers

8. Hong Kong (Hong Kong International Airport)—Singapore (Changi Airport): 3,147,384 passengers

9. New York (John F. Kennedy International Airport)—London (Heathrow Airport): 2,972,817 passengers

10. Hong Kong (Hong Kong International Airport)—Beijing (Beijing Capital International Airport): 2,962,707 passengers