Once again – and perhaps not surprisingly – Atlanta is the busiest airport in the world.
According to a report by Airports Council International, approximately 93.7 million people traveled through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in 2022, representing a 23.8% increase in passenger traffic compared to 2021.
Atlanta was the busiest airport for 22 consecutive years until losing its title to China’s Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) in 2020 due to the pandemic. During the peak of the pandemic in 2020, Chinese airports occupied seven of the top 10 rankings.
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However, Atlanta regained its status as the world’s busiest airport in 2021.
Similar to 2021, US airports dominated this year’s ranking, accounting for half of the ACI list. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and Denver International Airport (DEN) came in second and third.
Dallas Fort Worth handled around 73 million passengers last year, while Denver had 69 million passengers. The other two US airports on the list were Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) at number 4 and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) at number 6 on the list.
US airports have dominated the ACI rankings for the past two years due to a recovery in domestic travel that has started faster than other regions.
However, international airports gained ground in 2022, accounting for half of the top 10. Last year, US airports ranked eight out of the 10 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) also made the list and thus marked a recovery in international travel. which has lagged far behind domestic travel.
“While US airport hubs have been able to recover faster due to their strong domestic market, we are now seeing global hubs rise to the top ranks,” said Luis Felipe de Oliveira, CEO of 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.
“As we continue to proceed cautiously amid multiple headwinds that could affect the speed and magnitude of the global air travel recovery, the latest rankings mark an important milestone in getting back to pre-pandemic levels,” added de Oliveira.
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