Top 5 busiest country pairs for international flights in the world

The travel data company has released its list of the busiest country pairs, showing the countries with the most seats in February 2024. Surprisingly or not, the top five most popular flights include relatively short flights, with many countries actually being neighbours or separated by a small body of water.

Although no Chinese market made it into the top five, OAG highlighted that the top four country pairs in terms of highest percentage growth compared to February 2023 include China. Japan-China, South Korea-China, Thailand-China, and Hong Kong-China grew by 895%, 649%, 443%, and 120%, respectively, Simple Flying writes.

India-United Arab Emirates

Seats available in February 2024: 1.9 million

According to aviation analytics company Cirium, a total of ten airlines operate routes between India and the United Arab Emirates, including two airlines Air Arabia - the original carrier - and its Abu Dhabi subsidiary.

Japan-South Korea

Seats in February 2024: 2.1 million

Another pair of countries based in Asia is the huge market between Japan and South Korea, where 16 airlines operate flights between the two countries separated by the Sea of Japan. Although neither country has a huge diaspora of citizens like the Indian diaspora in the UAE, South Korea has been a popular destination for the Japanese.

Spain-United Kingdom

Places in February 2024: 2.8 million

Another popular tourist destination. The British definitely love the Spanish sun. According to Statista, there are more than 280,000 British citizens living in Spain. Meanwhile, data from Spain's National Institute of Statistics showed that 17.3 million UK residents visited the country as tourists in 2023, with a significant increase over 2022.

Canada-USA

Seats in February 2024: 2.9 million

The first two items on the list where the United States is one of the countries, the US-Canada market is one of the busiest international country pairs in the world. While many airlines operate routes between the two, one thing to note about the pair is that there are no double-stop flights from the US to Canada.

Mexico-USA

Seats in February 2024: 4.2 million

Finally, the busiest pair of countries in terms of seats is the Mexico-US market, served by 15 airlines from both countries. Of the top five airlines serving routes between the two, three are based in the US.

As TravelWise previously reported, experts have named the best budget travel destinations in America.