KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) has once again been recognised as the most connected airport in the Asia Pacific region, according to the latest analysis released by OAG.
OAG, the data platform for the global travel industry, today released Megahubs 2024, the market's definitive analysis of the Top 50 most internationally connected airports in the world.
According to OAG Megahubs, KUL was ranked second among the top 50 global Airport Megahubs with 33,411 connections across the globe.
The analysis also showed that KUL is the most connected airport in Asia Pacific.
"KUL does not have the highest volume of connections by comparison to some of the biggest hubs in the index, but it does have a high ratio of connections to destinations served."This has pushed up its rankings, from 12th place in 2019 and fourth place in 2023," it said.
Meanwhile, OAG Megahubs said that Asia's largest low-cost carrier (LCC), Air Asia, is the dominant carrier at the airport, operating 35 per cent of KUL's flights in the 12 months to August 2024.
The airlines recorded a total of 14,583 LCC connections with 137 destinations, it said.
AG Megahubs said Asia Pacific is home to three of the top five megahubs, Kuala Lumpur (KUL), Tokyo Haneda (HND), and Seoul Incheon (ICN), providing reassurance these markets are back and pursuing growth.
"As Asia Pacific continues its rise in the global rankings, OAG Megahubs reflects the growing recovery of international air travel and strong demand for low-cost travel in the Asia Pacific region," OAG head of Asia Pacific (ASPAC) Mayur Patel.
Connectivity growth in Asia is spread widely with an additional four megahubs in South East Asia making the list (Soekarno–Hatta International Airport, Suvarnabhumi Airport, Manila International Airport and Singapore Changi Airport) and seven in North East Asia (Tokyo Narita International Airport (NRT) , Shanghai Pudong International Airport, Hong Kong International Airport , Fukuoka Airport, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport , Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Beijing Capital International Airport).
NRT makes a huge leap year on year, from 60th ranked in 2023 to 15th in 2024. NRT packs a punch in connecting terms – with a relatively small number of potential connections across just 117 destinations. Ends