ACI World Reveals Top 20 Busiest Airports Worldwide

Photo source: Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Airports Council International (ACI) World recently released the latest World Airport Traffic Dataset, confirming the top 20 busiest airports in the world.

The dataset’s key findings reveal airport passenger, cargo, and aircraft movement rankings for over 2,600 airports across more than 180 countries and territories.

The dataset’s key findings confirm total global passenger traffic for 2022—surpassing   6.6 billion—the return of international traffic, and the prevalence of U.S. airports in the top rankings.

The top 20 airports for global passenger traffic represent 18 percent of global traffic (1.2 billion passengers). The rankings welcomed back some of the world’s largest airport hubs as international traffic returns. Furthermore, the global share of international traffic increased from 25.3 percent in 2021 to 38.4 percent in 2022.

According to the dataset, the Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport topped the list with almost 94 million passengers. The Dallas (2nd), Denver (3rd), Chicago (4th) and Dubai international airports rounded up the top 5.

Source: ACI World.

From the top 20 rankings, 10 airports are in the U.S. with almost all showcasing significant domestic passenger shares (between 75 –95 percent). The biggest jump in the top 20 rankings is recorded for Heathrow Airport, leaping from 54th to 8th rank as all travel restrictions were lifted by the UK Government in March 2021, following the covid pandemic restriction.

“In the face of cost pressures and tight labor markets, the world’s airports continue to serve the public’s thirst to travel by air,” said ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira.

He added that airports and aviation stakeholders “must continue to focus wholeheartedly on building a safe, secure, efficient, and environmentally sustainable air transport system fit to welcome the doubling of passengers that will travel through our doors in the next two decades.”

Global aircraft movements, according to the dataset, were close to 85 million, representing a gain of 14.8 percent from 2021 results or a recovery at 82.4 percent from pre-pandemic levels. The top 20 airports represent 11.4 percent of global traffic (9.7 million movements).

Source: ACI World.

Furthermore, research showed that air cargo traffic decreased by 6.7 percent year-over-year (-2.6 percent versus 2019), to close to 117 million metric tonnes in 2022. The decline can be attributed to the ongoing geopolitical tensions and disruptions to global trade and supply chains.

ACI collects airport traffic every year through its global network of airport operator members, investors, and aviation stakeholders. The dataset allows users to filter through accurate and reliable numbers that can be segmented on a regional, national, and airport level and by traffic type.

Airports Council International (ACI), the trade association of the world’s airports, is a federated organization comprising ACI World, ACI Africa, ACI Asia-Pacific, ACI EUROPE, ACI Latin America and the Caribbean and ACI North America. As of January 2023, ACI serves 712 members, operating 1925 airports in 171 countries.