Dubai, Shanghai Pudong and Incheon are the region’s most connected airports. Photo Credit: Adobe Stock/peshkova
Dubai is the leading airport in APAC and the Middle East for air connectivity, followed by Shanghai Pudong International Airport in China and Incheon International Airport in South Korea, while levels of air connectivity across both regions have surged when compared to 2023.
These findings are part of the Air Connectivity Ranking 2024, produced by the Airports Council International Asia-Pacific & Middle East (ACI APAC & MID), which evaluates airports across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East based on the overall level of air passenger connectivity. It assesses performance through network scale and frequency, economic weight of destinations and connection quality and efficiency.
Key takeaways from the 2024 report include:
Dubai tops the list for air connectivity, Hong Kong seen as most improved
Dubai International Airport was ranked number one for air connectivity in 2024, followed by Shanghai and Incheon, with Hamad International Airport in Doha placing fourth and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in fifth place. The rest of the top ten featured Beijing Capital International Airport in sixth place, Singapore Changi Airport in seventh place, while Tokyo International, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi and Hong Kong International airports ranked eight, ninth and tenth. Hong Kong International was also named ‘most improved airport in air connectivity in APAC & MID regions’.
Regional connectivity surges in both APAC and the Middle East
The Asia-Pacific region witnessed a 13% jump in overall connectivity compared to 2023, while the Middle East posted a 28% increase, surpassing all post-pandemic recovery forecasts. On average, connectivity across all airports rose in both Asia-Pacific and the Middle East by +14%, driven by China's reopening and route expansions, a strong testament to the resilience and dynamism of the aviation sector.
Intra-regional connections within APAC close to pre-pandemic levels
Intra-APAC passenger travel in 2024 is nearing levels seen in 2019; however travel to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa has surpassed these, driven by Gulf hubs. Passenger traffic in the Middle East recovered faster than APAC, showing robust 2024 versus 2019 traffic. Passenger traffic from Asia-Pacific to the Americas still trails 2019 levels.
Airport city clusters are on the rise
Larger urban hubs like Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macau, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Beijing which have ‘airport city clusters’, defined as multiple large airports, dominate the City Connectivity Index, a new ranking in the report. This reinforces how airport city clusters enable higher flight frequencies and diversified routing options. Clusters such as Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macau (which ranked first) have seen a substantial enhancement of connectivity through effective use of secondary airports. Tokyo was ranked second, with the rest of the top five made up of Shanghai, Beijing and Seoul airports.