OAG’s Megahubs – Heathrow best connected, Kuala Lumpur makes appearance, Dubai is missing

There are many statistical means by which to measure the impact and influence of airports, and especially hub airports, as the air transport business continues to make a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Just as the ASK or ASM measure gives an extra dimension when assessing an airline's impact, by combining the available seats on aircraft by the number of kilometres (miles) flown, the connectivity measure for airports reveals those offering the greatest number of flights and connections between them - a combination of volume and frequency.

A recent OAG report says that so far in 2023 London Heathrow has reclaimed its number 1 spot for international travel connectivity. The fast growing Istanbul Airport also makes the global top 10, but Dubai International, despite being the leader in the Middle East, does not. Meanwhile Kuala Lumpur makes an unanticipated entry at number 4.

And in a separate report published at the same time, IATA says that in 2022 the US (which is not well represented in the international top 10) accounted for 41% of global connecting traffic, with US airports hosting a wide spectrum of hub operations.