Tourism : Seoul-Jeju, the busiest air link in the world

With 180 flights a day from the South Korean capital, Jeju Island (south of the peninsula) is at the top of the list of destinations most frequently linked by air, according to the specialized company Routesonline.

In 2017, nearly 13.5 million passengers flew between Seoul and Jeju Island, according to figures from the specialized company Routesonline, reported on the Travel + Leisure website.

Located about an hour’s flight from the South Korean capital, at the entrance to the Strait of Korea, Jeju is renowned for its volcanic landscapes. It is also a popular destination for newlyweds, who love to go there on their honeymoon.

Domestic flights are at the top of the list
With « about 180 flights per day », the route between Gimpo International Airport, which serves Seoul, and Jeju International Airport (the island’s eponymous capital) is well ahead of Melbourne-Sydney (just over 9 million passengers in 2017) and Sapporo-Tokyo International Airport in Japan (8.7 million passengers). « The price of flights from Seoul[to Jeju] starts at $94[80.5 euros], » says Travel + Leisure.

The site, which reproduces the top 10 most frequented routes, points out that « nine of them were[in 2017] in the Asia-Pacific region » and that only one (between Hong Kong International Airport and Taiwan-Taoyuan International Airport) is operated by international flights – the rest by domestic flights.

London in 9th place only on international routes
Focusing only on international flights, in addition to the Hong Kong to Taiwan-Taoyuan route (6.7 million passengers per year), the most frequented routes are those connecting Soekarno-Hatta Airport to Jakarta, Indonesia, Singapore-Changi Airport (4.8 million passengers) and Hong Kong International Airport to Shanghai-Pudong Airport (4.2 million).

London Heathrow is the only European airport in the top 10 international routes, » says Travel + Leisure, ranking 9th with JFK Airport in New York.