In its annual Busiest Routes in the World 2025 report, OAG analysed total scheduled airline seat capacity on global routes from January to December 2025.
The Asia-Pacific region dominated the ranking, accounting for nine of the world’s 10 busiest routes. Vietnam’s busiest domestic corridor placed fourth globally, served by six airlines operating frequent flights throughout the day on a route spanning more than 1,000 km. Seat capacity on the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City route rose 4 per cent from 2024 and was about 8 per cent higher than in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.
OAG experts said the route is among the few domestic air corridors worldwide to have fully recovered and surpassed pre-pandemic levels, reflecting sustained travel demand between Vietnam’s two largest economic hubs.
Vietnam has featured consistently in the global top 10 busiest domestic air markets since 2017, driven by this route. Data from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam show that in 2023 it carried more than 9 million passengers, accounting for 22 per cent of domestic air traffic, meaning one in five domestic air travellers flew this corridor.
Globally, the busiest route in 2025 was Jeju-Seoul Gimpo in South Korea, with about 14.3 million seats, followed by Japan’s Sapporo New Chitose-Tokyo Haneda (12.1 million) and Fukuoka-Tokyo Haneda (11.5 million).
