KUALA LUMPUR: When Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) was crowned the most “connected” low-cost carrier (LCC) megahub in the world by the Official Aviation Guide (OAG) for the second year in a row last month, the response from netizens was swift.
Some congratulated the airport and its operator, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad, while others poked fun at the accolade and highlighted issues such as breakdowns of KLIA’s aerotrain that connects the main terminal building to its satellite building.
According to OAG, an aviation data platform, the title is a direct result of the extensive network offered by dominant carrier AirAsia, which contributed a 36 per cent share of KLIA’s flights.
AirAsia flies to more than 100 destinations across 25 countries from its hub at KLIA’s Terminal 2, operating approximately 4,500 flights weekly.
KLIA had 16,502 LCC connections across 151 destinations, OAG noted.
KLIA also ranked highly in overall global connectivity, securing joint fourth place with Germany’s Frankfurt International Airport in the world’s top megahubs category.
London’s Heathrow Airport was the world’s most connected airport for the third year in a row, according to OAG, followed by Turkiye’s Istanbul Airport and Holland’s Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
Singapore’s Changi Airport was 11th in the overall category.
After ranking 12th in 2019, KLIA rose to fourth in 2023, peaked at second last year before notching fourth position again this year.
OAG’s chief analyst John Grant told CNA that the evaluation was based on a series of parameters, including the number of destinations served and the frequency of service to those destinations.
“The results again demonstrate that KLIA is a very successful connecting point for travellers from around the world with a large combination of airlines and destinations served,” he said.
OAG’s analysis used flight data extracted from the busiest day for global aviation from Sep 2024 to Aug 2025 – Aug 1, 2025 – based on the total scheduled seats for the world’s 100 largest and 100 largest international airports.
OAG said the total number of all possible connections was calculated between inbound and outbound flights within a six-hour window, considering those where either the inbound, outbound, or both flights are international.
The other criteria chosen for all operating flights were: Single connections to or from the chosen airports, a maximum circuitry of 150, and a maximum connection window of six hours. A maximum circuitry of 150 means the maximum allowed length of the actual flight path, especially for connecting flights, can be 150 per cent of the most direct route.
