The 10 busiest air routes in the world, September 2026 so far

We counted the flights on the world's busiest routes from September 1 to 27, 2026, using global flight-tracking data. All ten on the list are domestic. None are in Europe or the US.

Both directions are added together, and "per day" is the total over 27 days.

1. 1Jeju – Seoul Gimpo
   215
2. 2Jeddah – Riyadh
   142
3. 3Melbourne – Sydney
   138
4. 4Mumbai – Delhi
   115
5. 5Sapporo – Tokyo Haneda
   115
6. 6Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City
   113
7. 7Fukuoka – Tokyo Haneda
   110
8. 8São Paulo – Rio de Janeiro
   100
9. 9Bogotá – Medellín
   99
10. 10Cape Town – Johannesburg
    92

1. Jeju – Seoul Gimpo

5,805 flights, about 50% more than second place. Averaged over the whole day that's one every 7 minutes, but Gimpo is closed to flights from 11 pm to 6 am, so in practice it's closer to one every 5. Jeju is South Korea's holiday island, about 450 km south of Seoul and an hour's flight away. The alternative is a ferry, so almost everyone flies. Some airlines put widebody jets built for long-haul on this one-hour hop just to fit everyone.

2. Jeddah – Riyadh

The capital and the Red Sea port. Jeddah is also where many pilgrims land on their way to Mecca, about 80 km away. There's no train between the two cities yet, and by road it's close to 1,000 km of desert highway, against about 1 hour 45 minutes in the air.

3. Melbourne – Sydney

Australia's two biggest cities, 700 km apart. The train takes about 11 hours, so nobody commuting for work takes it. Sydney Airport has a curfew from 11 pm to 6 am. Melbourne's stays open all night.

4. Mumbai – Delhi

The money and the government, about 2 hours 15 minutes apart. The fastest train needs around 16 hours. Mumbai's airport has two runways that cross, so only one can be used at a time: it handles this traffic, and everything else, on what is effectively a single runway.

5. Sapporo – Tokyo Haneda

Hokkaido is Japan's northern island: powder snow in winter, cool summers, lots of tourists. The bullet train only reaches the south tip of the island so far, and the extension to Sapporo is still years away. By train it's about 8 hours with a change. By plane, 1 hour 30.

6. Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam is long and thin, and these are the two ends: the capital in the north and the business hub in the south, about 1,150 km apart. The north–south train takes more than 30 hours, the flight about 2.

7. Fukuoka – Tokyo Haneda

Here the bullet train does compete (about 5 hours from Tokyo), and the plane still wins. Fukuoka's airport is almost downtown: the subway gets you from the terminal to Hakata station in about 5 minutes. Haneda shows up twice in this top ten.

8. São Paulo Congonhas – Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont

Brazil's "ponte aérea", the air bridge, has run as a shuttle between the two cities since 1959. Both airports sit right inside the city. Santos Dumont's runway is only about 1.3 km long and ends in Guanabara Bay, with Sugarloaf Mountain in view. Flight time is under an hour.

9. Bogotá – Medellín

The shortest route on the list, about 215 km in a straight line. The road winds through the Andes and takes 8 to 10 hours, while the flight takes less than one. Both airports are high: Bogotá at about 2,550 m and Medellín's at about 2,140 m.

10. Cape Town – Johannesburg

About 1,270 km, 2 hours by plane or around 15 by car. Johannesburg's airport sits at almost 1,700 m, and thin air means longer takeoff runs, so its longest runway is about 4.4 km. The traffic is a mix of business trips and tourists heading to the Cape.

How we counted

• Every flight recorded between the two airports from September 1 to 27, 2026 (UTC), in both directions.
• Airport pairs, not cities: Tokyo Haneda and Tokyo Narita count separately, and so do Seoul Gimpo and Seoul Incheon.
• We checked more than 40 of the world's most frequent routes, not every route in the world.