Since the start of the new aviation season, Delhi Airport (DEL) in India’s capital and Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) in Bangkok, Thailand, have both overtaken Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) in the number of countries served. Suvarnabhumi currently serves 59 countries, followed by Delhi with 57, while Beijing Capital has fallen to 56.
China is the world’s second-largest civil aviation market, with more than 260 civil airports nationwide, and Beijing Capital has long had an extensive international route network. The decline in the number of countries served is likely due in part to traffic shifting to Beijing Daxing International Airport. Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Royal Brunei Airlines, for example, now operate from Daxing rather than Beijing Capital.
In recent years, restrictions on the use of Russian airspace have prompted numerous foreign airlines to withdraw from Beijing Capital, including Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, British Airways, SAS, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Finnair and LOT Polish Airlines. Other carriers have suspended services for their own reasons, including Garuda Indonesia, Ukraine International Airlines, Pakistan International Airlines, Iraqi Airways, Alitalia and Conviasa.
By comparison, Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport has performed particularly well. When LOT Polish Airlines recently expanded capacity in Asia, it chose Bangkok as one of its destinations. Thailand has maintained relatively good relations with both Western and Eastern countries and avoided taking sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. As a result, Suvarnabhumi now serves several countries and territories that have no direct air links with Beijing Capital, including Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, Réunion and New Caledonia.
Delhi Airport has arguably performed even better than Suvarnabhumi, reflecting the rapid growth of India’s aviation sector. Several European airlines have launched new routes to Delhi in recent years, while Indian carrier IndiGo has launched routes to destinations such as Athens. Combined with services to Central Asian, Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian countries, these developments have rapidly expanded Delhi’s international network.
However, the number of countries served does not necessarily reflect the commercial value of an airport’s route network. Delhi’s relatively high ranking partly reflects the large number of countries across Central Asia, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, many of which are relatively smaller markets with limited route potential. Delhi also benefits from being the Indian capital’s only major airport, unlike Beijing, which has both Capital and Daxing. If Daxing were included, Beijing might still rank first.
Bangkok, however, also has two airports. Don Mueang International Airport continues to serve more than a dozen countries, although its destinations overlap considerably with those of Suvarnabhumi. As with Beijing’s two airports, their country counts cannot simply be added together.
Many highly profitable airports serve a relatively small number of countries. Tokyo Narita and Seoul Incheon, for example, each connect to just over 40 countries. Nevertheless, the number of countries served can offer a useful indication of the breadth of an airport’s international network. Dubai International, Abu Dhabi International and Hamad International in Doha each offer direct air links to 80–90 countries, while Istanbul Airport tops the list with an impressive 112.
