INTERNATIONAL. Airports Council International (ACI) World today published its annual World Airport Traffic Dataset, revealing the world’s 20 busiest airports in 2022 by passenger and cargo traffic.
The data represents airport passenger, cargo and aircraft movement rankings for over 2,600 airports across more than 180 countries and territories.
According to the latest figures, 2022 global passenger traffic exceeded 6.6 billion, boosted by the continued resumption of air travel in many parts of the world. The numbers represent an increase of +43.8% from 2021, or a recovery to 72.5% of pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
International passenger volumes at the 20 busiest airports accounted for 18% of the total passenger traffic at airports worldwide (1.2 billion passengers).
The latest findings show US airports at the top of the rankings, mainly due to high domestic passenger volumes.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta has maintained its position as the world’s busiest airport (93.7 million, +23.8% year-on-year). Dallas Fort Worth International Airport continued to hold number two spot (73.7 million, +17.5%). Denver International (69.2 million, +17.8%) and Chicago O’Hare airports (68.3 million, +26.5%) also remained in third and fourth positions, respectively.
Dubai International Airport (66 million, +127%) meanwhile jumped 22 spots in the rankings, from number 27 to number 5 {in international passenger numbers it ranks number one -Ed}.
Heathrow Airport made the most notable improvement in 2022, leaping from 54th to 8th after the UK government ended all pandemic-related restrictions and passenger traffic rebounded strongly.
ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira said: “In the face of cost pressures and tight labour markets, the world’s airports continue to serve the public’s thirst to travel by air. Airports have once more proven their resiliency as reflected in the key findings from the ACI World Airport Traffic Dataset.
“As always, reliable data remains fundamental to our advocacy and development of timely airport guidance. 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.”
ACI’s latest data meanwhile indicates a decline in global air cargo volumes, which reached close to 117 million metric tonnes in 2022. This represents a -6.7% year-over-year drop and is -2.6% lower compared to 2019.
The weaker demand for air cargo was attributed to the ongoing geopolitical tensions and disruptions to global trade and supply chains.
The data suggests that the world’s main airports saw the highest cargo volumes. Hong Kong International (4.2 million, -16.5%) and Memphis International (4.04 million, -9.8%) airports are still the leading cargo hubs.
Volumes in the top 20 account for around 42% (49.5 million metric tonnes) of the global volumes.
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport registered the highest cargo volume growth (+16.8%) among the top 20 airports.
The figures show that flight movements almost reached 95 million, an increase of +14.8% from the previous year, hitting 82.4% of pre-pandemic levels.
The top 20 airports represent 11.4% of global traffic (9.7 million movements). From the top 20 rankings, 13 airports are in the US. ✈
