SINGAPORE: Six of Asia Pacific's largest airports are amongst the Top 20 most connected airports worldwide according to OAG's International Megahubs Index 2018, which ranks those airports with the highest ratio of scheduled international connections to the number of destinations served.
Asia Pacific's Top 5 Most Connected Megahubs are Singapore Changi? 8th, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International 10th, Kuala Lumpur International? 12th, Hong Kong International? 13th and Bangkok Suvarnabhumi? 14th.
In the International Low-Cost Megahubs section, ongoing low-cost airport infrastructure development, route network expansions and seat capacity growth enabled Kuala Lumpur International, home of Asia's largest low-cost carrier AirAsia, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International and Singapore Changi to retain the top 3 global rankings.
Manila Ninoy Aquino International, jumped from 12th place to 4th, with dominant carrier Cebu Pacific operating one-third of all flights.
Shanghai Pudong International is China's most connected airport at 24th, with Guangzhou Baiyun and Beijing Capital International, the world's largest airport for scheduled airline seat capacity, at 31st and 32nd place respectively. Eyes are starting to turn towards Beijing Daxing International Airport, scheduled to open as the world's biggest airport in 2019.
Mayur Patel, Regional Sales Director JAPAC for OAG, said: “Robust demand for international air travel is making Asia-Pacific a pivotal region for connecting flights. Asia's dominance is clear to see but we are likely to see some interesting movements when the new Beijing airport opens.
With China driving air travel growth, we expect Hub connectivity to Hong Kong, currently undergoing unprecedented growth, driven by mainline operators (Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon) will undoubtedly see further evolution.”
About OAG At the forefront of the travel market for years, we have the world's largest network of air travel data including the definitive schedules database of more than 980 airlines and the most extensive flight status information database in the market, tracking 96% of commercial flights.
Today, OAG's customer network includes the world's largest airlines and airports, online travel agents (OTAs), the largest booking engines in Europe and the top travel, technology and e-commerce leaders across China, India, Indonesia, Latin America and North America. - Bernama
