Sydney to Melbourne flight route among world’s busiest

If you’ve braved the 11-hour train journey between these two cities, you’ll know why.

With a coastline like this, it’s no wonder it’s popular. Jungmun Daepo in Jeju Island, South Korea. Picture: istock

We may be a small population, but when it comes to domestic travel, we certainly clock up some distance.

The flight route between Sydney and Melbourne has been ranked one of the busiest in the world, according to data published by flight analytics provider OAG.

In 2022, more than 8.2 million seats were allocated to the popular route, cementing it as the the fifth busiest in the world that year when calculated by number of passenger seats.

OAG’s John Grant said while countries such as the US had larger populations, a lack of alternate travel options between Sydney and Melbourne was a major factor contributing to the volume of flights between the two metropolises.

“(Australia) has a small population of which a large proportion, around 38 per cent, are based in those two cities,” he explained. “ … there are limited or indeed no real alternate modes of transport between the two cities which further underpins the high levels of frequency that you see.”

Chaos: Flights between Sydney and Melbourne among the world’s busiest flight routes. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

Flights between South Korea’s capital Seoul and Jeju Island remain the world’s most active passenger route, with 15,675,404 seats made available last year.

Routes between Japan’s major cities dominated the list, with routes between Tokyo-Sapporo, Tokyo-Fukuoka, Okinawa-Tokyo and Tokyo-Osaka ranked second, fourth, seventh and tenth place respectively.

The data comes following the federal government’s announcement last year that it will establish a high-speed rail authority to investigate the potential of constructing a fast train network between Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane as well as to regional areas.

If successful, the gruelling 11-hour train trip between Melbourne and Sydney could be cut significantly, adding an alternative for those who commute regularly between the two cities.

But with an expected price tag of $130bn and estimated construction time of 30 years, if you’re hoping to book a leg of Australia’s 1750km east coast bullet train network, you’ll be waiting a while.

Winter Wonderland: Sapporo, Japan, is a popular route for tourists in winter. Picture: Getty

World’s busiest flight routes (2022)

1. Seoul Gimpo – Jeju Island: 15, 675, 404
2. Sapporo-Tokyo: 10, 639, 903
3. Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City: 10, 605, 579
4. Tokyo-Fukuoka: 10,426,245
5. Melbourne-Sydney: 8,204,871
6. Jeddah-Riyadh: 7,495,790
7. Okinawa-Tokyo: 7,343,199
8. Denpasar-Jakarta: 7,100,224
9. Mumbai-Delhi: 7,000,015
10. Tokyo-Osaka: 6,231,151

*Based on seat numbers