Once again – and perhaps without surprise – Atlanta airport reigns supreme as the busiest airport in the world.
In 2022, about 93.7 million people traveled through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), a 23.8% increase in passenger traffic from 2021, according to a report by Airports Council International.
Atlanta airport was the busiest airport for 22 consecutive years until it lost its title to China’s Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) in 2020 due to the pandemic. During the peak of the epidemic in 2020, China’s airports occupied seven of the top 10 rankings.
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However, Atlanta regained its position as the busiest airport in the world in 2021.
Similar to 2021, this year’s rankings were dominated by US airports, making up half of ACI’s list. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and Denver International Airport (DEN) ranked second and third, respectively.
Dallas-Fort Worth saw about 73 million passengers last year, while Denver had 69 million. The other two US airports on the list were Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD), which ranked fourth, and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which ranked sixth on the list.
US airports have dominated ACI’s rankings for the past two years due to a faster domestic travel recovery than other regions.
However, international airports gained ground in 2022, and they made up half of last year’s top 10. US airports took eight of the 10 slots in the ACI report.
London Heathrow Airport (LHR), Dubai International Airport (DBX), Istanbul Airport (IST), Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) are also on the list, marking a rebound in international travel, which has largely lagged behind the local.
“While US airport hubs have been able to recover faster due to their strong domestic market, we are now seeing global hubs joining the higher ranks,” said Luis Felipe de Oliveira, general manager at ACI World.
Travel is still catching up to pre-pandemic levels, but US airline CEOs expect strong travel demand to continue into 2023. The only airport on the list that had more passengers in 2022 than in 2019 was Denver.
“While we continue to proceed cautiously amid multiple headwinds that could affect the speed and scale of global air traffic recovery, the latest ratings represent an important milestone in reaching pre-pandemic levels,” added de Oliveira.
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