Georgia’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is once again the world’s busiest airport. The US airport was knocked off its No. 1 perch to the No. 2 slot in passenger volume in 2020 by Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in China, breaking the Atlanta airport’s 22-year streak in the top spot.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was still the busiest passenger airport in the world in 2019. But in the 2021 rankings released on Monday by trade association Airports Council International, ATL is back on top, a sign of recovery from 2020’s precipitous plunge in air traffic as the pandemic took hold.
In 2021, the Atlanta airport saw 75.7 million passengers. That figure is up a whopping 76% from 2020 but still nearly 32% below pre-pandemic 2019 figures. Guangzhou’s airport dropped to No. 8 in 2021, with 40.3 million passengers. Another airport in China, Chengdu’s Shuangliu International Airport, is ninth on the 2021 list, down from No. 3 in 2020 all as an effect of the pandemic scurge in China.
US airports dominated the passenger traffic rankings in 2021, with eight of the top 10 in the United States. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Texas was the second-busiest in 2021, with about 62.5 million passengers, and the international airport in Denver, Colorado, ranked third, with 58.8 million passengers. Chicago’s O’Hare and Los Angeles International rounded out the top five. The list shows “an encouraging trend of recovery,” Luis Felipe de Oliveira, ACI World’s director general, 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,” de Oliveira said.In 2021, there were an estimated 4.5 billion passengers globally, according to ACI. That figure represents a nearly 25% increase from 2020 but more than 50% drop from 2019.
In 2021, domestic traffic in China dropped significantly with renewed lockdowns, while the United States saw a big jump. The United States has the world’s largest domestic travel market, followed by China. Airports that routinely landed in the top 10 of the world’s busiest airports list — such as Dubai International, London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle — have been absent during the pandemic.
World’s top 10 busiest airports for passenger traffic in 2021
1. Atlanta (ATL): 75.7 million passengers, up 76% from 20202. Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW): 62.5 million passengers, up 59% from 20203. Denver (DEN): 58.8 million passengers, up 74% from 20204. Chicago O’Hare (ORD): 54 million passengers, up 75% from 20205. Los Angeles (LAX): 48 million passengers, up 67% from 20206. Charlotte (CLT): 43.3 million passengers, up 59% from 20207. Orlando (MCO): 40.4 million passengers, up 87% from 20208. Guangzhou (CAN): 40.3 million passengers, down 8% from 20209. Chengdu (CTU): 40.1 million passengers, down 1.5% from 202010. Las Vegas (LAS): 39.8 million passengers, up 79% from 2020
