Earlier this month OAG released its Megahubs 2024 report ranking the connectivity of the world’s leading international airport hubs—globally and regionally. Three Asian hubs have made the Top 5, while Frankfurt (FRA) and New York’s JFK both moved downwards.

Now in its 10th year, the rankings are generated by comparing the number of scheduled connections to and from international gateways with the number of destinations served from the airport.

Using this formula—which relies on reliable airline schedules data—OAG Megahubs 2024 provides insights on how flight connectivity can change, grows or contract, affecting the competitiveness of the world’s largest airports. 

The top-line Top 50 chart shows some significant changes but London Heathrow (LHR) held its pole position to remain the most internationally connected airport in the world this year. This is despite not having the most connections (61,356) or destinations (227). See the chart below for more details.

OAG said: “LHR is the fourth biggest airport in the world in terms of scheduled one-way capacity in the year to August 2024. British Airways remains the dominant airline at London Heathrow operating 50% of all flights (not including codeshare or affiliate flights).” All other positions in the Top 10 have seen changes.

Kuala Lumpur (KUL) moved up to second (from fourth) this year and Tokyo’s Haneda to third (from fifth). KUL is the most connected airport in Asia Pacific even though it does not have a particularly high volume of connections compared to some of the biggest hubs in the index.

However, KUL has a high ratio of connections to destinations served, which is what pushes it up the rankings. It was in 12th place in 2019. Asia’s largest low-cost carrier (LCC), Air Asia, is the dominant airline at the airport, operating 35% of KUL’s flights in the 12 months to August 2024.