The Airports Council International (ACI World) today published the ranking of the 10 busiest airports in the world in 2021, pointing to encouraging signs of air traffic recovery as many airports considered the busiest in previous years return to the top of the list.
The world ranking of airports is based on preliminary compilation of 2021 global data from airports around the world. Thanks to ACI's reach as the trade association of the world's airports, the rankings reflect the most up-to-date airport data used by the industry and include enger traffic, cargo volumes and aircraft movements.
Busiest airports in the world
Total global engers in 2021 are estimated at around 4,5 billion, representing an increase of almost 25% compared to 2020, or a decrease of more than 50% compared to the results of 2019.
enger traffic at the top 10 busiest airports, which together for nearly 10% of global traffic (463 million engers), posted a 51,8% gain from 2020, or a 29,1% drop from to the 2019 results.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL, 75,7 million engers, +76,4%) is back at the top of the 2021 ranking, followed by Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW, 62,5 million engers, +58,7%) and Denver International Airport (DEN, 58,8 million engers, +74,4%). After reaching the top position in 2020, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN, 40,3 million engers, -8,0%) dropped to the eighth position in 2021.
Eight of the top 10 airports in of enger traffic are in the United States and the remaining two are in China. All 10 major airports have a significant share of domestic traffic, the segment of traffic that has been driving the global recovery. The biggest improvement recorded was Orlando International Airport (MCO, 40,4 million engers, +86,7%) which jumped from the 27th position in 2020 to the seventh position in 2021.
“The ACI World enger traffic rankings tell the story of an encouraging recovery trend, with the majority of pre-Covid-19 busiest airports now back at the top”, said ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira. “While we are cautious that the recovery could face a number of headwinds, the momentum created by countries' reopening plans could lead to an increase in travel in the second half of 2022. Thus, ACI World continues to advocate for governments to follow the data and relax travel restrictions to safely restore the movement of people, goods and services. This will give travelers more travel options and drive the overall recovery through aviation's unique role in driving value for trade, tourism, investment and job creation.”
Airports that handled the most cargo and aircraft
Air cargo, which was less impacted by Covid-19, saw volumes increase by around 15% year-on-year (+3,5% vs. 2019) to an estimated record 124 million metric tons in 2021.
Air cargo volumes at the top 10 airports, collectively representing around 25% (31,5 million metric tons) of global volumes in 2021, increased 12,1% in 2021 year-over-year (or 15,0% vs. 2019 results). The gain can be attributed to the continued increase in demand for online consumer goods and pharmaceuticals.
Hong Kong International Airport (HKG, 5,0 million metric tons, +12,5%) is back on top and Memphis International Airport (MEM, 4,5 million metric tons, -2,9%) is back to second place, followed by Shanghai Pudong International Airport ( PVG, 4,0 million metric tons, +8,0%) in third.
ACI World estimates that there were more than 69 million global aircraft movements in 2021, representing a gain of more than 12% over 2020. The top 10 airports for around 8% of global traffic (5,3 million movements) and saw a 33,9% year-over-year gain, still down 16,1% from 2019.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL, 708k, +29,1%) leads, followed by Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD, 684k, +27,1%) and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport ( DFW, 652 thousand, +26,7%). All top 10 airports for aircraft movements are in the United States.
With information from ACI.
