World's busiest international and domestic air routes(oag.com)
oag.com
World's busiest international and domestic air routes
https://www.oag.com/busiest-routes-right-now
94 comments
For comparison, here's the data for 2018: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_busiest_passenger_air_...
I wish we could layer the other years on top of this to see the differences
1. This is pretty fascinating
2. Can we just add one more mapping layer on top of this for easier info digestion? Seems like a pretty light lift for a big processing human advantage.
Not surprised by the London - Dubai route being so popular. Ever since the month long lockdown got announced, a lot of tourists from the UK have been pouring into Dubai.
But it's just a map of routes, not origin:destination pairs. Who knows how many were connecting in Dubai to somewhere else, or connecting in London to somewhere else.
(Paris Orly => Pointe-a-Pitre) is listed as an international route surprisingly.
I thought it was a local flight too.
Last year when countries started closing their borders, Air Tahiti had to reroute their Papeete-Los Angeles-Paris flight via Pointe-a-Pitre.
It was a French Polynesia to French Caribbean to France flight.
Last year when countries started closing their borders, Air Tahiti had to reroute their Papeete-Los Angeles-Paris flight via Pointe-a-Pitre.
It was a French Polynesia to French Caribbean to France flight.
I wonder if that's because Guadeloupe isn't part of the Schengen Zone and so has passport control for arrivals from elsewhere in France.
None of the overseas territories are part of Schengen. They rerouted there because another airline (French Bee / Air Caraïbes) doing CDG -> PPT has a base there.
They’re doing it trough Vancouver now that they know the Canadian government won’t cancel their flights at the last minute ;-)
They’re doing it trough Vancouver now that they know the Canadian government won’t cancel their flights at the last minute ;-)
Isn't French Guiana France proper? I always see it marked alongside the Schengen zones.
Yes, French Guiana is as much part of France as Hawaii is part of the USA. They use the Euro, and any EU citizen can move there for work, study or just to live (if they have the money to support themselves).
However, it's not part of Schengen. The usual benefit -- no queues at the borders -- is pretty limited, when it doesn't border any other EU state, and anyone from the EU must arrive by air or sea anyway.
Since it is part of the EU, crossing the border is less-strict for an EU citizen: an identity card is acceptable, and there's less ability for people to be detained by border guards.
However, it's not part of Schengen. The usual benefit -- no queues at the borders -- is pretty limited, when it doesn't border any other EU state, and anyone from the EU must arrive by air or sea anyway.
Since it is part of the EU, crossing the border is less-strict for an EU citizen: an identity card is acceptable, and there's less ability for people to be detained by border guards.
> The usual benefit -- no queues at the borders -- is pretty limited, when it doesn't border any other EU state, and anyone from the EU must arrive by air or sea anyway.
Well, that's never stopped Metropolitan France from creating queues at air-mode borders anyway.
Source: Flew from Brussels&Frankfurt and still got border controlled at Toulouse multiple times. Some bullshit about it being "temporary for 1 year" with endless renewals and no
Well, that's never stopped Metropolitan France from creating queues at air-mode borders anyway.
Source: Flew from Brussels&Frankfurt and still got border controlled at Toulouse multiple times. Some bullshit about it being "temporary for 1 year" with endless renewals and no
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I am more surprised that MCO/SJU route (Orlando to San Juan, Puerto Rico) is listed as international too.
I am quite certain that is a domestic route, at least for immigration purposes. Perhaps the airline industry differentiates territories as international for some reason.
I am quite certain that is a domestic route, at least for immigration purposes. Perhaps the airline industry differentiates territories as international for some reason.
Yes that’s a domestic route, seems like a mistake in the reporting.
The ISO country codes are different though (FR and GP), the heuristics may be based on that ?
Yeah, among the busiest "international" routes are:
* France - France (Overseas region and department),
* Russia - Russia (annexed region),
* USA - USA (commonwealth),
* China (People's Republic of) - China (Republic of)
Goes to show that the notion of "nation" has fuzzy borders.
* France - France (Overseas region and department),
* Russia - Russia (annexed region),
* USA - USA (commonwealth),
* China (People's Republic of) - China (Republic of)
Goes to show that the notion of "nation" has fuzzy borders.
Also, Cario-Jeddah and Cario-Riyadh are formerly Ottoman Empire. Seoul-Tokyo is briefly part of Japanese Empire. The only "true" international routes left are Dubai-London and New York-Santiago
How can you actually equate Cairo - Jeddah and Cairo - Riyadh as remnants of the Ottoman Empire? This has got to be the most ridiculous assertion I've read on this site.
Those routes are busy simply because there are a number of Egyptian expats working in KSA who travel back home for vacations and/or family events and stuff. Apart from that, Cairo and Riyadh are as international as you can get apart from the language - they speak different dialects of Arabic, they have different views on religion, they have extremely different cultures, and they call each other's food shit.
Both parts (Arabia and Egypt) were ruled by their respective dynasties for almost a half millennia, far longer than Ottoman rule.
I don't know why there's a lot of traffic between Seoul and Tokyo, but it's certainly not because the former was briefly ruled from the latter. Comparing these examples to the Russian and French examples is laughable.
Those routes are busy simply because there are a number of Egyptian expats working in KSA who travel back home for vacations and/or family events and stuff. Apart from that, Cairo and Riyadh are as international as you can get apart from the language - they speak different dialects of Arabic, they have different views on religion, they have extremely different cultures, and they call each other's food shit.
Both parts (Arabia and Egypt) were ruled by their respective dynasties for almost a half millennia, far longer than Ottoman rule.
I don't know why there's a lot of traffic between Seoul and Tokyo, but it's certainly not because the former was briefly ruled from the latter. Comparing these examples to the Russian and French examples is laughable.
> Goes to show that the notion of "nation" has fuzzy borders.
Or that these aren't nations but empires pretending to be nations.
Or that these aren't nations but empires pretending to be nations.
that was good one!
Moscow - Simferopol isn't international either.
The UN doesn't recognize the annexation of Crimea, so that's probably why.
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Neither is Kosovo.
This is really cool. From where are they sourcing this data?
And on the Jan 2021 top US domestic routes, what's up with those Atlanta to Ft Lauderdale/Miami/Tampa/Orlando routes? We're only partly through the month so that maybe that's why they are listed but still, I was surprised.
And on the Jan 2021 top US domestic routes, what's up with those Atlanta to Ft Lauderdale/Miami/Tampa/Orlando routes? We're only partly through the month so that maybe that's why they are listed but still, I was surprised.
OAG aggregate timetable data from airlines and distribute that aggregated feed.
You'll note their data is "seats" not "passengers" i.e. if an A380 flies from London to Dubai they count that as 525 seats as opposed to however many people took the flight.
You'll note their data is "seats" not "passengers" i.e. if an A380 flies from London to Dubai they count that as 525 seats as opposed to however many people took the flight.
Good point. Might, then, also reflect pressure from governments to keep flying, no matter the pax load factor.
Tax law. NY citizens are avoiding taxes and often transfer through ATL. They can live in FL for more than ~180 days and they don't pay state income tax. We call them "snow birds".
"you maintain a permanent place of abode in New York State for substantially all of the taxable year and spend 184 days or more in New York State during the taxable year, whether or not you are domiciled in New York State for any portion of the taxable year. Note: Any part of a day is a day for this purpose."
https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/file/pit_definitions.htm
"you maintain a permanent place of abode in New York State for substantially all of the taxable year and spend 184 days or more in New York State during the taxable year, whether or not you are domiciled in New York State for any portion of the taxable year. Note: Any part of a day is a day for this purpose."
https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/file/pit_definitions.htm
To the extent you're suggesting you can easily live outside of NY but collect tax-free NY income, it's not really true. Any NY source income remains taxable by the state. In practice, this covers remote work too, despite the safe harbor provisions of TSB-M-06(5)I.
[1] https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/memos/income/m06_5i.pdf
[1] https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/memos/income/m06_5i.pdf
The link you gave is about Telecommuters working out of NY but live in FL. This is a pretty small group (no source). It's the retirees and pensioners that get the great deal..
Why would this be specifically reflected in Jan travel, as opposed to other reasons, e.g. traveling to enjoy warmer weather? Or a non lockdown state in the current situation?
Holidays?
Snowbirds are known to spend the winter there.
Summer is not a great time to be in Florida during hurricane season with fairly heavy rains.
Summer is not a great time to be in Florida during hurricane season with fairly heavy rains.
Why would they wait until January? Cold weather starts in Nov at the latest.
Holiday travel?
This page doesn't have previous months on it. Or I haven't found it with ten seconds of looking.
This page doesn't have previous months on it. Or I haven't found it with ten seconds of looking.
Going to Florida for a month over the holidays won’t help with the 184 day requirement
As in, snowbirds go south for the winter, return for the holiday period, and fly back down.
Oh I see, they might come back to NY for holidays.
Southwest has a big presence in ATL and FLL. Delta also beefed up its Florida routes. The rest of the country (Likely mostly the Midwest) traveling through ATL to take advantage of Florida's lax COVID restrictions.
Florida’s not under lockdown.
ATL is the busiest passenger airport in the world, so I think that just reflects that a large proportion of traffic to and from Florida will route through there, plus just the usual seasonal traffic.
It’s people going there to get drunk on sand and avoid the cold
(Moscow - Simferopol), 4000 passengers/day.
Why is there so many people taking this route in the middle of winter?
Why is there so many people taking this route in the middle of winter?
Because Crimea is relatively warm, it's an interesting place worth visiting and, last but not least, there aren't that many options for Russians to go spend winter holidays in. The next work day is Monday
Ahh, a balmy 47ºF in Simferopol. I guess it's all relative.
When I lived in NYC I remember the first day it reached 50 degrees, sometime in late March or April, you would see people walking around in tee shirts.
Now that I live in Miami, 50 degrees is cause to break out the warmest clothes you own. Definitely all relative.
Now that I live in Miami, 50 degrees is cause to break out the warmest clothes you own. Definitely all relative.
It's more than relativity - it's a consequence of acclimatisation, which is the process of adaptation of the human body to ambient temperature environments.
Humans may acclimate to cool temperature by increasing brown fat, which in turn may lead to improvements in glucose metabolism. These changes can be dampened or reversed following exposure to warmer temperatures.
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/cool-te...
Humans may acclimate to cool temperature by increasing brown fat, which in turn may lead to improvements in glucose metabolism. These changes can be dampened or reversed following exposure to warmer temperatures.
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/cool-te...
I can second this. I grew up in the Arizona desert. If it was below 55 degrees people would be wearing jackets. I then lived in NYC for a few years, I too recall the first day it broke 40 degrees. I went out in shorts and a t-shirt, it felt great!
When I lived in NYC I remember the first day it reached 50 degrees, sometime in late March or April, you would see people walking around in tee shirts.
Ditto for Chicago. First 50° day of the year, and Oak Street Beach fills up.
Ditto for Chicago. First 50° day of the year, and Oak Street Beach fills up.
Yeah, lot's of places in Russia are -27F or -33C during the day. Brrrr.
I think you've answered your question; to escape the Moscow winter to somewhere it's above freezing?
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This really needs time period comparisons. Year over year, month over month...
Strange to me that ATL to Orlando is busy, wonder if out of state tourism has recovered slightly?
Disney World is open and there are no COVID-19 restrictions in Florida as far as I know.
Florida has guidelines but nothing mandatory, I believe? But yeah I walked into a Papa John's pizza and half the employees were wearing no masks and the other half were wearing "chin diapers" when I visited last month.
I live in Kansas and mask compliance here is actually really high in all the places I go shopping, which someone on the coasts might not expect. People just don't want to cause trouble, even if they disagree with the restrictions. My 82 year old grandmother has said as much, she has made a decision that the mental health toll isn't worth it, and she'll risk exposure to go grocery shopping, but doesn't want to cause trouble so wears her mask.
I live in Kansas and mask compliance here is actually really high in all the places I go shopping, which someone on the coasts might not expect. People just don't want to cause trouble, even if they disagree with the restrictions. My 82 year old grandmother has said as much, she has made a decision that the mental health toll isn't worth it, and she'll risk exposure to go grocery shopping, but doesn't want to cause trouble so wears her mask.
This sounds very Kansas! I grew up there and now live in Utah.
Every time I've gone back I'm reminded just how much the midwest is full of people who are good, friendly, and look out for each other.
Every time I've gone back I'm reminded just how much the midwest is full of people who are good, friendly, and look out for each other.
I was in the Panhandle last week at my family’s place. Can confirm about the chin straps and no mask wearers.
There’s a big restaurant nearby that had 200+ people in it and no table or space restrictions. It was a full house.
In Georgia we are still under restrictions and restaurants are at half capacity.
There’s a big restaurant nearby that had 200+ people in it and no table or space restrictions. It was a full house.
In Georgia we are still under restrictions and restaurants are at half capacity.
In Orlando proper the adherence seemed much better. Maybe because they’re a tourist town and don’t want to get in the news. To the point that a buffet had us use disposable gloves for each trip to get food. Going off the beaten path was where the mask adherence seemed very low.
Disney World is still highly restricted. Masks are required at all times. Park capacity is handicapped. Hotel services are limited. Ride capacity is restricted. Etc.
That said, when I went with my daughter almost every person I spoke to said they were travelling from California, were season ticket holders and were coming to Disney World because Disneyland is closed down. Unintended consequence for sure. We already had COVID in March so felt the risks were acceptable for us, and as you've said Disney was extremely serious about mask requirements, and so many of the things little kids would be interested in were closed down. They really don't want a super spreader event at "The Happiest Place on Earth".
And to preempt people who think I'm acting irresponsibly, you're right. It was a spur of the moment trip and sort of a mental health crisis, I felt trapped and crazy in my home in the middle of winter, if I could go back in time I don't think I'd go. The airplane was completely full and I'm guessing drink sales are way up on planes because that's the only reason you're allowed to take off your mask. Also prices were insanely cheap for flights, $250 for round trip tickets for me and my five year old daughter.
And to preempt people who think I'm acting irresponsibly, you're right. It was a spur of the moment trip and sort of a mental health crisis, I felt trapped and crazy in my home in the middle of winter, if I could go back in time I don't think I'd go. The airplane was completely full and I'm guessing drink sales are way up on planes because that's the only reason you're allowed to take off your mask. Also prices were insanely cheap for flights, $250 for round trip tickets for me and my five year old daughter.
Fairly off-topic and mostly curious, did it help?
Disneyworld didn’t really help. It had some cool stuff but it’s mostly waiting in line and being uncomfortable wearing a mask constantly.
The ocean and sun did. We drove out to the coast and spent a few days at the beach. I saw the ocean for the first time in 15 years, the second time in my life I’ve been there. The sound of the waves against the shore filled with me a sense of awe and overwhelming calm that I didn’t know was possible. My daughter couldn’t stop yelling “this is amazing!”, it was her first time. We went to the beach at midnight and she wished on a shooting star. We both got a nice tan. If I could do it again I’d have just spent the whole week on the beach.
The ocean and sun did. We drove out to the coast and spent a few days at the beach. I saw the ocean for the first time in 15 years, the second time in my life I’ve been there. The sound of the waves against the shore filled with me a sense of awe and overwhelming calm that I didn’t know was possible. My daughter couldn’t stop yelling “this is amazing!”, it was her first time. We went to the beach at midnight and she wished on a shooting star. We both got a nice tan. If I could do it again I’d have just spent the whole week on the beach.
Very interesting, but i think it would be 1000 times better with an additional map.
A bit off topic but the presentation of the data appears to be using a frontend to PowerBI I haven't seen before. Looks like Microsoft wants the reach of the tool to extend beyond corporate intranets.
It claims that one of the top international routes is MCO-SJU. That's a domestic connection. That's Orlando to Peurto Rico. That's a US territory and you don't need a passport to go.
You don’t need a passport to travel from Berlin to Paris either, doesn’t make it a domestic flight.
Berlin is in Germany, and Paris is in France. That makes it an international flight.
Orlando is in the US, and San Juan is in the US. That makes it a domestic flight.
Orlando is in the US, and San Juan is in the US. That makes it a domestic flight.
Curaco, Sint Martin and the Netherlands make it domestic as well.
Also, Paris/French Polynesisan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_longest_domestic_fli...
Also, Paris/French Polynesisan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_longest_domestic_fli...
Orlando and Puerto Rico are both part of the same country.
Pretty interesting lists. 9 of 10 busiest domestic routes are in Asia. The other is Middle East. USA's top 3 are ATL to different places in Florida. ATL has 4 of the top 10, Seattle has 3, Dallas 2.
The routes seem to be in countries that are not locking down as strictly.
Also the Asian routes tend to be routes that are not competitive by HSR for various reasons (Vietnam and Indonesia don't have any, Saudi Arabia's route is not connected via HSR); Bali and Jeju are separated from the other end of their trips by at least one large body of water with no land connection; Beijing, Shanghai, and the PRD are all way too far from each other on HSR to be competitive, as is Tokyo-Sapporo. That leaves Tokyo-Osaka, which is on the list primarily because even with HSR winning the mode share in that market the two metro areas are very large. (34m and 12m respectively, 21m if you count all of Kobe-Osaka-Kyoto)
Also the Asian routes tend to be routes that are not competitive by HSR for various reasons (Vietnam and Indonesia don't have any, Saudi Arabia's route is not connected via HSR); Bali and Jeju are separated from the other end of their trips by at least one large body of water with no land connection; Beijing, Shanghai, and the PRD are all way too far from each other on HSR to be competitive, as is Tokyo-Sapporo. That leaves Tokyo-Osaka, which is on the list primarily because even with HSR winning the mode share in that market the two metro areas are very large. (34m and 12m respectively, 21m if you count all of Kobe-Osaka-Kyoto)
Most of those routes, with the exception of Jakarta-Bali, are in countries that have managed the virus well enough to avoid recurring/permanent lockdowns like in the US and Europe.
When Asian countries had to lock down, they were super strict. See Da Nang (Vietnam) in August.
When Asian countries had to lock down, they were super strict. See Da Nang (Vietnam) in August.
So, there is an inverse relationship between freedom to travel in the long term and strictness of public health response in the short term.
The strict health response also needs to be fast enough to actually have an effect.
NYC had very strict measures in its first lockdown but because of the timing it was closing the barn doors after the horse left. If you get bad, it doesn't seem possible to revert to much lower without an extremely long, extremely strict lockdown (Wuhan was 76 days, for which you couldn't even really leave your home and party cadres were running food for people.)
NYC had very strict measures in its first lockdown but because of the timing it was closing the barn doors after the horse left. If you get bad, it doesn't seem possible to revert to much lower without an extremely long, extremely strict lockdown (Wuhan was 76 days, for which you couldn't even really leave your home and party cadres were running food for people.)
ATL is a delta hub, my guess is lots of snowbirds or other people traveling to/from florida for vacations.
Why are Denver-Phoenix and Seattle-Phoenix so busy?
The route involving Seattle is actually Phoenix TO Seattle, which is somewhat surprising, and means 3/10 of the list puts people in/through Seattle.
That's a surprisingly large percentage / number.
Intuitively, It feels like too many people to either be: - On their way somewhere else (home to BC, hopping the Pacific, from AK to lower 48) - Coming for snow (either ending in WA, or legging to BC,ID,WY,MT) - Coming home from holiday - Subjecting themselves to January in Seattle [1]
… but maybe in aggregate the above add up to our 8–10 position.
Now that I've written the above out, and others have pointed out, I'm recognizing a pattern with Atlanta: we don't see bigger cities as starting points, just their aggregation point (Atlanta). Maybe reasonable to assume the same for Seattle.
-- [1] Not a dig, I live here.
That's a surprisingly large percentage / number.
Intuitively, It feels like too many people to either be: - On their way somewhere else (home to BC, hopping the Pacific, from AK to lower 48) - Coming for snow (either ending in WA, or legging to BC,ID,WY,MT) - Coming home from holiday - Subjecting themselves to January in Seattle [1]
… but maybe in aggregate the above add up to our 8–10 position.
Now that I've written the above out, and others have pointed out, I'm recognizing a pattern with Atlanta: we don't see bigger cities as starting points, just their aggregation point (Atlanta). Maybe reasonable to assume the same for Seattle.
-- [1] Not a dig, I live here.
People from relatively wealthy areas flying to Phoenix for the warm weather?
In my experience those are first legs on (cheaper) stopover flights.
If you fly between Denver and (anywhere on the coast) there is always some cheap option that stops over in Phoenix.
Perhaps it is the same with Seattle going east ...
If you fly between Denver and (anywhere on the coast) there is always some cheap option that stops over in Phoenix.
Perhaps it is the same with Seattle going east ...
Phoenix is an American Airlines hub.
Ski traffic to Denver.
Probably snowbirds escaping down to AZ for golf weather and government that's not trying to destroy small business and restaurants.
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I'm curious how these compare to "ordinary" times. Like I would be interested in the delta.
nit: Orlando to San Juan (Puerto Rico) is not international.
They listed Shanghai - Taipei as "international route", let's hope that site stays up.
Florida.