The number of people traveling by air increased significantly last year, undoubtedly driven by relaxed COVID-19 pandemic-related travel restrictions in the U.S.
Indeed, in 2021, the total number of global air passengers is estimated to have been around 4.5 billion, according to Airports Council International (ACI) World, the trade association of the world’s airports, which tracks global airport data. While that number showed a 25 percent increase from the number of people traveling by air in 2020, was still down about 50 percent from the number of global air travelers in the pre-pandemic year 2019.
This data comes from Airports Council International World’s annual ranking of the top 10 world’s busiest airports in the world. The numbers used in the tally represent total passengers enplaned and deplaned, with passengers in transit counted once. In other words, it’s the number of people moving through an airport’s terminals according to ACI World.
“The passenger traffic rankings tell the story of an encouraging trend of recovery, with most of the recurrent top-traficked airports pre-COVID-19 levels back at the top,” Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira said in a statement. “Although we are cautious that recovery could face multiple headwinds, the momentum created by reopening plans by countries could lead to an uptick in travel in the second half of 2022.”
Interestingly, eight of the world’s top 10 in passenger traffic 2021 are in the U.S., while the other two are located in China. That’s a reversal from the 2020 ranking, where seven of the 10 in passengers were in China and only three were in the U.S.
It’s important to note that China’s international borders remained closed in 2021. The country also maintained a zero-COVID-19 policy, which meant that COVID-19 outbreaks led to strict local travel restrictions and further lowered domestic demand for air travel. Conversely, the demand for air travel in the U.S. in 2021 increased as pandemic-related travel restrictions were relaxed.
So, with that background in mind, here are the world’s 10 busiest airports.
1. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Georgia
In 2020, for the first time in 22 years, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport wasn’t the busiest in the world. Instead, Guangzhou Baiyun Airport in China had the most passenger traffic in 2020, but the airport has since returned to be the busiest in 2022 as it fields a number of domestic and international flights and saw air travel’s full recovery.
However, Hartsfield-Jackson airport was — once again — the world’s most busy airport in total passenger traffic. That’s because in 2021, 75,704,760 passengers moved through its terminals. That’s a 76.4 percent increase in passenger traffic from 2020.
2. Dallas Fort Worth International, Texas
In 2021, 62,465,756 passengers moved through Dallas Fort Worth’s terminals. That number is a 58.7 percent increase from 2020, when Dallas Fort Worth was #4 in airports with the most passengers.
3. Denver International Airport, Colorado
In 2021, 58,828,552 passengers moved through Denver International. Compared to 2020’s number of passengers, the Denver Airport saw a 74.4 percent increase.
4. Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Illinois
In 2021, 54,020,399 passengers moved through O’Hare, which is a 75.1 percent increase in passengers from 2020.
5. Los Angeles International Airport, California
Just over 48 million passengers moved through Los Angeles International Airport LAX 2021. While that number was up 66.8 percent from 2020’s tally, it’s still down 45 percent compared to the number of passengers in 2019. That number jumped up to 66 million in 2022, representing almost a 50% increase compared to 2021’s 48 million.
6. Charlotte Douglas International Airport, North Carolina
Charlotte Douglas International experienced a 59.2 percent increase in passengers in 2021 as 43,302,230 passengers moved through its terminals.
Here’s what’s interesting about Charlotte Douglas’s ranking for 2021: The airport was only the 34th busiest in 2019.
7. Orlando International Airport, Florida (MCO)
Somewhat surprisingly, Orlando International experienced a whopping 86.7 percent increase in passengers last year. In plain numbers, 40,351,068 air passengers used the airport in 2021.
Orlando International’s inclusion in the rankings this year is also noteworthy. Here’s why: This is the first time MCO has been on the list of the top 10 busiest airports, according to Reuters. In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, Orlando International was the 31st busiest airport and one of the busiest international airports with plenty visitors visiting the theme parks. Last year the airport was the 27th busiest.
8. Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, China
In 2020, Guangzhou Baiyun was one of the world’s busiest airports because it had the most passenger traffic with 43,767,558 passengers passing through for international travel. Last year, however, that number dropped to 40,259,401 passengers, which was an 8 percent decrease but still remains a main international airport.
9. Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, China
In 2020, Chengdu Shuangliu was third on the list of the top 10 busiest airports, logging 40,741,509 passengers. Like Guangzhou Baiyun, Chengdu Shuangliu also saw a drop in passengers last year but still had plenty of global passenger traffic.
In 2021, Chengdu Shuangliu had 40,117,496 passengers, which is a 1.5 percent decrease from 2020’s numbers.
10. Harry Reid International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada
Like Orlando International and Charlotte Douglas International, Harry Reid International, formerly known as McCarran International Airport, saw a dramatic increase in passengers last year.
In 2021, Harry Reid International had 39,754,366 passengers, which is a staggering 78.6 percent increase over 2020’s number. What also must be pointed out is that in 2019, the airport was the world’s 30th busiest airport, and in 2020, it was the 22nd busiest airport.
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FAQs
What Is The World’s Busiest Airport Outside Of The United States?
Dubai International Airport is currently the world’s busiest airport outside of the U.S. Dubai International Airport had more than 66 million passengers in 2022, an increase of 127% year over year (y-o-y) of which primarily passenger traffic was international. In 2023, their projected number of passengers for the whole year rose to a staggering 85 million.
What Are The Two Busiest Airports In North America?
Currently, the Atlanta Airport and the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Airport lead the pack for busiest in North America. In 2022, Atlanta had 94 million passengers, while Dallas Fort Worth International Airport had 73 million passengers.
While sometimes changing rankings throughout the year, these two are usually towards the higher end of filling airline seats. The latest stats show that Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) is the busiest airport with 5.4 million seats sold in October 2023.