HK Express has been named the fastest-growing airline of 2024 by global travel data provider OAG. The news comes after the Hong Kong-based budget carrier, which is a subsidiary of Cathay Pacific, welcomed its six millionth passenger on board its December 31 flight to Fukuoka. OAG also found that the busiest international route in the past year was Hong Kong to Taipei.
HK Express had a 46% Increase in Flights in 2024
OAG reported that HK Express increased the number of flights from 23,940 in 2023 to 35,015 in 2024. Last year, the airline expanded its network by adding flights to Sanya, Clark, Penang, Phu Quoc, and Shizuoka, and resuming its Hiroshima and Hualien services that had been suspended since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The carrier recently celebrated another milestone — its six millionth passenger who boarded an HK Express flight from Hong Kong to Fukuoka on December 31. The traveller was given six round-trip tickets to destinations within the airline’s network, which includes locations in Mainland China, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
Hong Kong-Taipei is the World’s Busiest International Route
OAG also found that the busiest international route for 2024 was Hong Kong-Taipei, specifically to and from the island nation’s primary aviation hub Taoyuan International Airport. Capacity on this route, which was the third busiest in 2023, grew 48% to 6.78 million seats in 2024. However, it is still 15% lower than levels in 2019.
Several other international routes within Asia found places in the list of the busiest international routes, with Cairo International Airport (CAI) to Jeddah International Airport (JED) at No. 2, Seoul Incheon (ICN) to Tokyo Narita (NRT) taking the No. 3 spot, Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) to Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) coming in at No. 4, and Seoul Incheon (ICN) to Osaka’s Kansai International Airport (KIX) rounding out the top 5.
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