World’s busiest airports show surge

[reader]

From CNBC

International travel roared back last year, pushing airports from London to Tokyo up in a global ranking of passenger traffic.

Dubai International Airport ranked as the second busiest in 2023, up from fifth place in 2022 and fourth place in 2019, according to Airports Council International’s preliminary ranking, which was released on Monday. Passenger traffic to Tokyo Haneda International Airport jumped 55% last year from 2022, and the airport ranked fifth, up from 16th place a year earlier.

Global airports served 8.5 billion passengers last year, up 27% from 2022 but still about 6% below pre-pandemic counts, ACI said, citing preliminary figures.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Delta Air Lines

’ biggest hub, once again topped the list of the busiest airports, serving 104.7 million passengers, ACI said.

Here are the 2023 rankings (with 2022 rankings in parentheses):

1. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (1)
2. Dubai International Airport (5)
3. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (2)
4. London Heathrow (8)
5. Tokyo Haneda International Airport (16)
6. Denver International Airport (3)
7. Istanbul Airport (7)
8. Los Angeles International Airport (6)
9. Chicago O’Hare International Airport (4)
10. New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (9)

 

[unicorn]

Not surprising. Some people still had lingering fears, especially in early 2022. China didn't drop it's poorly-informed "Zero-covid" policy until late 2022. It wouldn't surprise me if Shanghai's airport makes it into the top 10 for 2024.