Ahead of this year's Routes Asia forum, Routesonline is providing a snapshot on the leading airlines and airports and most used aircraft types across the region. Here we look closely at the airports serving North East Asia and highlight the region's top performers.

The data is all supplied by OAG Aviation using its OAG Schedules Analyser tool.

Scheduled Air Capacity From North East Asia (2005 - 2014)

Top Ten Airports in the North East Asian Market (2014)

Airports from five different countries (or to be precise territories) make up the top ten largest facilities for air travel based on seat capacity within and from North East Asia, highlighting the key role this region of the world is playing in the growing global aviation business. It is no surprise that China leads the way with five mainland airports in the top ten and many others flying up the ranking just outside these positions.

It is Capital International Airport in Beijing, China that leads the way with a 6.3 per cent share of capacity within and from North East Asia in 2014, but despite year-on-year growth, its share of capacity has declined 0.3 percentage points as other airports across the region strengthen their own activities.

Among these is Tokyo Haneda, ranked second with a 5.9 per cent share, where enhanced access for international operators has boosted recent demand for new air services. While, recent news on growth at Hong Kong will strengthen Hong International Airport, currently the third largest facility in the region with a 4.6 per cent share in 2014.

Alongside Beijing, the other major Chinese hubs at Shanghai Pu Dong (3.9 per cent), Guangzhou Baiyun (3.9 per cent) make up the remainder of the top five, while Shanghai’s domestic facility, Hongqiao International Airport, and Bao'an International Airport in Shenzhen are the other Chinese airports in the top ten.

Other countries (or territories) with airports among the top ten largest within and from North East Asia by capacity are South Korea with Incheon International Airport, which serves Seoul, holding a 3.3 per cent capacity share in 2014 and Taoyuan International Airport in Taipei, Taiwan having a 2.6 per cent share of regional capacity in 2014.

Fastest Growing Airports in the North East Asian Market (2010-2014)

Looking at capacity data in the region across a five year period, it is China that dominates the fastest growing airports within and from North East Asia between 2010 and 2014 with mainland facilities holding eight of the top ten airports in the analysis. It is Jiangbei International Airport in Chongqing, China that has grown by the biggest margin with capacity up 64.1 per cent from 2010.

The performance at Chongqing over the last five years only just exceeded that of two other Chinese airports. Changshui International Airport in Kunming, host of this weekend’s Routes Asia forum grew capacity 60.4 per cent between 2010 and 2014, while at Xianyang International Airport in Xi’an departure seats increased 58.3 per cent.

Outside of the dominant Chinese market, Ibrahim Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport, the main international airport in Taiwan, was the fastest growing airport outside of mainland China in North East Asia with departure capacity up 37.2 per cent over the past five years. Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Japan also saw a notable 36.9 per cent capacity rise between 2010 and 2014, highlighting its emergence as a popular location for Japan’s developing low-cost airlines.

Data comparison between 2013 and 2014 shows a steady level of growth among the top ten airports in the region by capacity, but as expected it is China that is home to the airport with the largest year-on-year growth among the top ten airports in this region. Shenzhen’s Bao'an International Airport, the main gateway into the major manufacturing area of the Pearl River Delta, boosted departure capacity by 11.9 per cent over the 12 month period, the only airport in the top ten to record a double-digit rise in capacity.

It was followed by Shanghi’s PuDong International Airport, which reported a 8.5 per cent capacity growth between 2013 and 2014, while Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport reported a 7.8 per cent capacity growth and Incheon International Airport in Seoul a 7.2 per cent capacity increase between the two years.

Looking at the wider top twenty airports in the region it is Osaka’s Kansai International Airport in Japan which recorded the largest year-on-year capacity growth between 2013 and 2014 with a rise of 11.0 per cent. Notable growth was also recorded by Jiangbei International Airport in Chongqing, China (up 9.1 per cent) and Xianyang International Airport in Xi’an, China (up 9.1 per cent).

The schedules data shows that only one of the top twenty airports in North East Asia reported a capacity decline between 2013 and 2014: New Chitose Airport, the largest airport in Hokkaidō, serving the Sapporo metropolitan area, reported a 3.6 per cent fall in capacity.

Scheduled North East Asia Capacity by Aircraft Type

The chart below shows which aircraft types were most prevalent in the North East Asian market during 2014. The schedule data shows the Airbus A320 (320) is the most widely used aircraft type in this market with a 20.1 per cent share of available seats with overall network capacity up 9.6 per cent between 2013 and 2014 from 159.08 million seats to 174.35 million seats.

The second most utilised aircraft type in this market is the Boeing 737-800 (738) with a 18.5 per cent share, while third most widely operated type by network capacity is the Boeing 737 all series (737) with a 9.6 per cent share.

The biggest rise in annual capacity among the top ten aircraft types were recorded by the Boeing 767-300 (763) with a 43.8 per cent rise in available seats in 2014 versus 2013, while the usage of the Boeing 777-200 (772) increased by 33.1 per cent. All ten of the most heavily utilised aircraft types in the region showed capacity growth between 2013 and 2014.