Ten largest mega hubs in Asia-Pacific in 2023

23 September 2023

Among the top 20 mega hubs in terms of flight connectivity in 2023, seven airports are in the Asia-Pacific region.

While many markets have rebounded from the long-lasting effects of the pandemic, the Asia-Pacific region is reportedly still on the path toward a full recovery.

And Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) has the most connections out of any other airport in the region.

While recovery is slower in the market, flights out of Asia-Pacific airports operated by low-cost carriers (LCCs) dominate the rankings. 13 airports in the region reportedly make up the top 25 low-cost mega hubs.

Measuring flight connectivity

Aviation analytics provider OAG released its Megahubs Index 2023, which features insights into flight connectivity and how it has returned at some of the largest airports across the globe.

Thanks to air travel moving forward in a positive direction, OAG was able to return to its full methodology that was last seen in 2019.

The provider uses its Megahubs Index to measure the effectiveness of leading international airport hubs as connecting points for passengers and as gateways into domestic markets.

OAG generates the rankings by comparing the number of scheduled connections to and from international flights with the number of destinations that are offered from the airport.

Among the top 20 global mega hubs, London Heathrow Airport ranked first, earning the title of the most connected airport in the world in 2023 by OAG. British Airways remains the dominant carrier at the airport, responsible for 50% of all flights.

Los Angeles International Airport rounded out the top 20, with Delta Air Lines operating 20% of its flights.

Seven Asian airport hubs are listed in the top 20, which is significant, considering the region has yet to experience a full recovery from the pandemic, according to OAG.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) is the most connected Asian hub, ranking fourth in the top 20. Haneda Airport (HND) in Tokyo comes just behind KUL at 5th.

AirAsia is the dominant carrier at KUL, operating 34% of all flights, while All Nippon Airways handles the most flights at HND, which is 36% of the share.

Top 10 Asia Pacific hubs

According to OAG, Asia Pacific has the second-highest average connectivity index for the top 10 mega hubs and has experienced significant changes.

Here are the 2023 top 10 mega hubs in the Asia Pacific region:

Rank	Airport	Country	2019 Ranking	Dominant Carrier	Share of Flights
1	Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL)	Malaysia	12	AirAsia	34%
2	Haneda Airport (HND)	Japan	22	All Nippon Airways	36%
3	Incheon International Airport (ICN)	South Korea	11	Korean Air	22%
4	Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK)	Thailand	14	Thai Airways International	14%
5	Singapore Changi Airport (SIN)	Singapore	9	Singapore Airlines	31%
6	Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)	Philippines	29	Philippine Airlines	32%
7	Soekarno–Hatta International Airport	Indonesia	16	Batik Air	21%
8	Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD)	Australia	26	Qantas Airways	40%
9	Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL)	India	35	IndiGo	39%
10	Fukuoka Airport (FUK)	Japan	52	Japan Airlines	19%

Five of the 10 airports are in Southeast Asia, but not one airport in China made the ranking.

While Chinese airports were reportedly among the region’s most connected airports before the pandemic, Tokyo and Fukuoka in Japan are receiving some recognition this year.

Low-cost is dominating

In the low-cost market, Asia-Pacific Airport dominated the rankings with 13 airports, equivalent to 52%, according to OAG. The statistic shows how much LCCs influences the industry in the region.

63% of all capacity in South Asia is operated by LCCs, which is the highest of any region in the world. Southeast Asia has the second-highest LCC capacity share, which is 53%. KUL comes in at number one with more than 11,000 possible low-cost connections across over 100 airports, OAG data shows.

Source: simpleflying.com

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