New study finds Seoul-Da Nang fastest growing route in Asia

The 10 fastest-growing major passenger routes in the Asia-Pacific region – with a flight between South Korea’s capital city Seoul and Da Nang – a coastal city in central Vietnam- taking the top spot.

The research published by Routesonline has been released as delegates gather for Routes Asia 2019 which is taking place in Cebu, Philippines this week.

A 71 per cent rise in the number of passengers flying between Seoul’s Incheon International Airport and Da Nang International Airport has placed the route as the fastest-growing in the Asia-Pacific region, the research has found.

More than 2.2 million passengers took a flight between the two destinations, which links South Korea’s capital and the largest city in central Vietnam, compared with 1.29 million just 12 months earlier. The growth is enough to place the route at number one in the rankings, comfortably ahead of Manila (MNL) – Iloilo (ILO) in second.

Routesonline’s research found the top 100 passenger routes to/from and within the Asia-Pacific region during 2018 using the latest data provided by Sabre Market Intelligence. The list was then ranked by percentage annual growth when compared with the same period in 2017.

According to OAG Schedules Analyser, two-way capacity on the Seoul (ICN) – Da Nang (DAD) route jumped by 73 per cent in 2018 to 2.8 million available seats. A total of 10 carriers served the market, up from nine in 2017.

Jin Air had a 20 per cent capacity share of the total number of seats on offer last year, with Korean Air on 15.1 per cent and Jeju Airlines on 13.2 per cent. In total there were almost 12,100 flight departures on the route, compared with fewer than 7,500 in 2017.

In second place is Manila (MNL) – Iloilo (ILO), which connects the capital of the Philippines with Iloilo City on Panay Island. Total passenger traffic increased by nearly 48 per cent in 2018 to more than 2.1 million passengers.

Overall two-way capacity rose by 49 per cent in 2018 compared with the previous year, OAG figures show, increasing to 2.53 million seats. Cebu Pacific commanded a 50.5 per cent capacity share, followed by Philippine Airlines with 31.3 per cent and Philippines AirAsia with 18.2 per cent.

In joint third in the list are two domestic routes. The first links Indonesia’s capital Jakarta with the port city of Palembang, while the second connects Hyderabad in south India with Bengaluru, the centre of the country’s high-tech industry. Both routes increased passenger numbers by 20 percent in 2018.