The State of Group Travel is a report on Midway’s route data, not a survey of travellers. It counts the scheduled nonstop (no change of plane) routes in the route files Midway generated in October 2026, for flights from October 2026 to September 2027, and sorts them into five regions plus the routes between regions. Around 25,245 routes link around 3,050 airports. Around 4,645 of them, 18%, connect two regions, and the rest stay inside one.
Those figures decide how easy it is for a group to meet without a connection. A group spread across Europe draws on the region’s around 7,665 internal routes, two in five of them seasonal. A group split between South America and Asia or Oceania has four nonstop routes between the two regions, all linking Santiago or Buenos Aires with Sydney, Melbourne or Auckland. Each chapter below gives the same figures for one region.
See every destination your group’s cities all reach nonstop
How the figures are made
A route is a pair of airports with a scheduled nonstop between them, in either direction, in at least one month from October 2026 to September 2027. New York JFK to London Heathrow and Heathrow to JFK are one route. We count airports, not metro areas, so JFK, Newark and LaGuardia are three airports. The route files cover nearly 600 departure airports. Around 2,455 other airports appear only as the far end of a route, so a route between two of them is not in the data.
Regions follow the country of each airport, using the regions of Midway’s destination filter. Mexico is in North America, as it is in the filter. Puerto Rico and the rest of the Caribbean are in the South and Central America chapter. Turkey, Russia, Georgia and Cyprus are in Europe, and Egypt, Iran, Armenia and Azerbaijan are in the Middle East and Africa. Central Asia is in Asia and Oceania.
A route is seasonal when it does not run in every month from October 2026 to March 2027. We use those six months because the counts fall towards the end of the window in every region, which looks like airlines that have not loaded their 2027 summer schedules yet rather than fewer flights. Airline counts are the airlines the data lists on a route, which can include an airline whose long-haul flight stops at both airports.
Counts under 15 are exact and larger ones are rounded to the nearest 5. Percentages are rounded to whole numbers. The route files were generated between 13 and 24 October 2026 for all but two airports, Nouméa (May 2026) and West Palm Beach (August 2026). Those two and Alexandria Borg El Arab cover a different month window, and each is cut to October 2026 to September 2027 like the others. We left out 46 entries whose listed flight time is impossible for their distance (Salvador, Brazil, to a Normanton in Australia in 25 minutes), because the destination code points at the wrong airport. Every figure comes from a script that reads Midway’s route files.
Five regions at a glance
| Region | Airports with route files | Routes inside the region | Routes to other regions | Share staying inside | Seasonal routes inside | Median nonstop destinations per airport |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America | ~90 | ~4,595 | ~1,580 | 74% | 19% | ~65 |
| Europe | ~105 | ~7,665 | ~3,070 | 71% | 39% | ~115 |
| Asia and Oceania | ~180 | ~5,800 | ~1,365 | 81% | 10% | ~30 |
| South and Central America and the Caribbean | ~115 | ~1,215 | ~925 | 57% | 16% | 11 |
| Middle East and Africa | ~110 | ~1,315 | ~2,355 | 36% | 10% | ~15 |
Routes in Midway’s data with a nonstop in at least one month from October 2026 to September 2027. “Share staying inside” is routes inside the region over all routes that touch it. Figures rounded to the nearest 5; counts under 15 exact. Route data as of October 2026.
North America
North America has around 90 airports with route files, in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Around 4,595 routes stay inside the region, 74% of the routes that touch it. Of the around 1,580 that leave, around 720 go to South and Central America and the Caribbean and around 565 to Europe. The median airport has around 65 nonstop destinations, and only one has fewer than ten.
The network changes little with the seasons. 19% of the routes inside the region are seasonal, and January 2027 lists slightly more routes than October 2026, around 4,150 against around 4,010. Of the routes in or out of the region that run in January but not in October, Miami, Minneapolis and Cancún are on the most. From May 2027 the monthly count falls each month, to around 3,010 in September. That is probably schedules not loaded yet, not a summer gap.
American Airlines is listed on more routes inside North America than any other airline, around 1,115, or 24%, ahead of Southwest with around 1,015. No route inside the region lists more than six airlines. Five do, including Denver to Seattle and Los Angeles to San Francisco. The longest route inside the region is Boston to Honolulu, around 5,080 miles and about 9h40.
JFK has more routes to other regions than any other North American airport, around 110, ahead of Toronto with around 105. Newark and Miami follow with around 100 each, then Montreal, and those five airports are on 32% of the region’s routes out. The most connected US cities ranks single airports and metros by nonstop destinations.
Europe
Europe has around 105 airports with route files, in 31 countries. Around 7,665 routes stay inside the region, more than inside any other region, and 71% of the routes that touch it. Of the around 3,070 that leave, around 1,695 go to the Middle East and Africa. The median airport has around 115 nonstop destinations, the highest median of the five regions, and two airports have fewer than ten.
Europe has the highest share of seasonal routes of the five regions: 39% of its internal routes, around 2,995. January 2027 lists around 5,285 routes inside the region, 19% fewer than October 2026. Around 655 internal routes do not run at all from October to March. Of the routes in or out of the region that run in January but not in October, Geneva and Rovaniemi are on the most, followed by Manchester, Salzburg and Tromsø. Europe is also the only region where every month from June to September 2027 already lists more routes than October 2026, so its airlines have probably loaded most of next summer.
Ryanair is listed on more routes inside Europe than any other airline, around 2,110, or 28%. easyJet follows with around 1,175 and Jet2 with around 545. The routes with the most airlines are holiday routes. Antalya to Cologne, Düsseldorf and London Gatwick, and Palma de Mallorca to Zurich, list seven airlines each. Because Russia is in Europe here, the longest route inside the region is Moscow Sheremetyevo to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, around 4,185 miles and 8h20.
Paris Charles de Gaulle has more routes to other regions than any other European airport, around 160, ahead of Istanbul with around 150. Frankfurt, London Heathrow and Amsterdam follow, and the five together carry about a fifth of the region’s routes out. The most connected cities in Europe ranks single cities by nonstop destinations.
See every destination London, Berlin and Madrid all reach nonstop
Asia and Oceania
Asia and Oceania has around 180 airports with route files, in 34 countries. Around 95 of them are in Oceania, where most have fewer than ten nonstop destinations, around 60 in East Asia, around 15 in Southeast Asia and 11 in South Asia. Around 5,800 routes stay inside the region, 81% of the routes that touch it, the highest share of the five regions. East Asia alone accounts for around 3,450 of them.
The median airport has around 30 nonstop destinations. 72 airports have fewer than ten, 40% of the region, and all of them are in Oceania. So the region holds both the dense Chinese, Japanese and Korean network and a long list of airports with a handful of routes each.
The region has the lowest share of seasonal routes of the five, 10% of its internal routes, level with the Middle East and Africa once rounded. January 2027 lists 5% fewer routes than October 2026. Between March and April 2027 the count drops by around 650 routes at once, at the start of the northern summer schedule, which is probably schedules not yet loaded rather than routes ending. China Eastern is listed on more routes inside the region than any other airline, around 780. China Southern, Air China and IndiGo follow.
Chongqing to Shenzhen and Seoul Incheon to Tokyo Narita list 13 airlines each, more than any other route in the region. The longest route inside the region is Auckland to Chengdu Tianfu, around 6,495 miles and 11h35, just ahead of Delhi to Sydney. Around 1,365 routes leave the region. Shanghai Pudong has the most of them, around 55, one more than Beijing Capital. The most connected cities in Asia-Pacific ranks single cities by nonstop destinations.
South and Central America and the Caribbean
This region has around 115 airports with route files, in 23 countries. 100 of them are in South America, seven in the Caribbean and six in Central America. Around 1,215 routes stay inside the region, 57% of the routes that touch it. Of the around 925 that leave, around 720 go to North America.
The median airport has 11 nonstop destinations, the lowest median of the five regions. 52 airports, 46%, have fewer than ten, almost all of them in South America. LATAM is listed on around 315 routes inside the region, 26%, ahead of Azul with around 290 and Gol with around 210.
Routes inside the region are mostly year-round, with 16% seasonal. Routes to other regions vary more: 27% are seasonal, and January 2027 lists around 885 of them against around 690 in October 2026, 29% more. Punta Cana alone is on 29 routes that run in January and not in October.
Punta Cana has more routes to other regions than any other airport in the region, around 65, ahead of San Juan with around 45 and São Paulo with around 35. Buenos Aires to São Paulo lists seven airlines, more than any other route inside the region. The longest route inside the region is Cayo Coco, in Cuba, to Buenos Aires, around 4,160 miles and 8h30.
The Middle East and Africa
This region has around 110 airports with route files, in 43 countries. Around 95 are in Africa and 11 in the Middle East, which here takes in the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Iraq, Iran, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Around 1,315 routes stay inside the region. That is 36% of the routes that touch it, and it is the only region where more routes leave than stay.
Of the around 2,355 routes that leave, around 1,695 go to Europe. Inside the region, around 810 routes link two African airports, around 265 link two Middle Eastern ones, and around 240 cross between Africa and the Middle East. The median airport has around 15 nonstop destinations. 38 airports, 35%, have fewer than ten, all of them in Africa.
10% of the routes inside the region are seasonal, and the monthly count varies by under 6% across the window. Ethiopian Airlines is listed on around 135 routes inside the region, 10%, ahead of Saudia with around 100 and Air Algérie with around 95. Abuja to Lagos lists 13 airlines, the most of any route in the region, and Arusha to Zanzibar 12. The longest route inside the region is Cape Town to Dubai, around 4,745 miles and 9h25.
Dubai has around 185 routes to other regions, the most in the data. Doha and Abu Dhabi follow with around 120 each, and Marrakech, with around 105, has more than Tel Aviv. The Gulf hubs make the region easy to reach from Europe and Asia. For a group inside Africa, the shared destination is probably often in Europe or the Gulf rather than in Africa.
Travel between regions
Around 4,645 routes connect two regions, 18% of the routes in the data. The table lists the ten pairs of regions.
| Regions | Routes between them | Share of routes between regions | Seasonal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Europe and the Middle East and Africa | ~1,695 | 37% | 20% |
| North America and South and Central America and the Caribbean | ~720 | 16% | 29% |
| Europe and Asia and Oceania | ~625 | 13% | 9% |
| North America and Europe | ~565 | 12% | 38% |
| Asia and Oceania and the Middle East and Africa | ~545 | 12% | 13% |
| North America and Asia and Oceania | ~195 | 4% | 12% |
| Europe and South and Central America and the Caribbean | ~185 | 4% | 20% |
| North America and the Middle East and Africa | ~100 | 2% | 10% |
| South and Central America and the Caribbean and the Middle East and Africa | 14 | 0% | 36% |
| Asia and Oceania and South and Central America and the Caribbean | 4 | 0% | 0% |
Routes between airports in two different regions with a nonstop in at least one month from October 2026 to September 2027. Seasonal: not running in every month from October 2026 to March 2027. Figures rounded to the nearest 5; counts under 15 exact.
Europe and the Middle East and Africa share more routes than any other pair of regions, more than a third of all routes between regions. North America and Europe have the highest seasonal share of any pair, 38%, probably because many transatlantic routes stop for part of the winter. At the other end, South and Central America and the Caribbean has 14 routes to the Middle East and Africa, half of them from São Paulo, and four to Asia and Oceania.
Dubai has more routes to other regions than any other airport, around 185. Paris Charles de Gaulle, Istanbul, Frankfurt, Doha, Abu Dhabi, London Heathrow, JFK, Amsterdam and Toronto complete the top ten, and those ten airports are on 27% of the routes between regions. Around 250 of the nearly 600 airports with route files, 42%, have no route at all to another region. The longest route in the data is New York JFK to Singapore on Singapore Airlines, around 9,525 miles and 18h15.
For a group split across regions, this is why the answer is usually a hub. The guide to intercontinental meeting points covers where such groups meet. The airports that share nonstop destinations with the most cities counts, for each airport, how many others it shares a destination with, and airline hubs and the cities a group can reach nonstop shows the same pattern for four pairs of smaller cities.
What the data does not cover
The figures count scheduled nonstop routes only. They say nothing about frequency, seats or fares, so a route with one weekly flight counts the same as a shuttle. Routes between two airports without route files are missing, and the set of airports with route files is not a random sample. It includes around 95 airports in Oceania and only 11 in the Middle East, which shapes each region’s median and its count of small airports.
The data is a snapshot as of October 2026. Counts for the summer of 2027 are low in most regions, probably because those schedules were not all loaded yet, so the seasonal figures use October to March only. Nouméa’s file dates from May 2026, so its routes are five months older than the rest, and 46 entries with an impossible flight time are left out.
A region figure says how dense the network is, not whether a route exists from your own airports. For that, enter your cities in Midway to see every destination all of you reach nonstop, with the months each route runs.