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New Study Reveals 10 Busiest Airports In the World

Rankings are encouraging signs of continued recovery, trade group Airports Council International says.

Runways and the Control Tower at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. [File Photo: Shutterstock]
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Key Takeaways:

  • Global passenger traffic showed a strong recovery in 2021, increasing by 25% from 2020 to 4.5 billion, although it remained 50% below 2019 pre-pandemic levels.
  • The Airports Council International's 2021 list of the 10 busiest airports is primarily driven by domestic traffic, with 8 of the top 10 located in the U.S. (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport ranked #1).
  • Air cargo volume saw a record increase of nearly 15% in 2021, reaching 124 million metric tons, driven by heightened demand for online consumer goods and pharmaceutical products, with Hong Kong, Memphis, and Shanghai being the top cargo airports.
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As a growing number of people push ahead with travel plans, airliner seats are filling up and airports are getting busier. And while traffic has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, the crowded, bustling atmosphere in many terminals is beginning to feel like it did a few years ago.

With the travel recovery gaining momentum, conversation has turned to passenger traffic, which the Airports Council International, an airport trade association, estimated was around 4.5 billion globally in 2021, or about 25 percent higher than the year before but still 50 percent lower than in 2019.

Jonathan Welsh

Jonathan Welsh is Lead Editor of Aviation Consumer and a private pilot who worked as a reporter, editor and columnist with the Wall Street Journal for 21 years, mostly covering the auto industry. His passion for aviation began in childhood with balsa-wood gliders his aunt would buy for him at the corner store. Follow Jonathan on Twitter @JonathanWelsh4

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