As determined by The Airports Council International, these were the 10 busiest airports in the world by passenger volume in 2019.
- Hartsfield-Jackson International (ATL) Atlanta, GA — 110.5 million
- Beijing Capital International (PKK) Beijing, China — 100 million
- Los Angeles International (LAX) Los Angeles, CA — 88.1 million
- Dubai International (DXB) Dubai, UAE — 86.4 million
- Tokyo International (Haneda) (HND) Tokyo, Japan — 85.5 million
- Chicago O’Hare (ORD) Chicago, IL — 84.6 million
- London Heathrow (LHR) London, England — 80.9 million
- Shanghai Pudong International (PVG) Shanghai, China — 76.2 million
- Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Paris, France — 76.2 million
- Dallas-Fort Worth International (DFW) Dallas, TX — 75.1 million
It may seem strange that the busiest airport in the world is in a comparatively small city, Atlanta, GA. Atlanta enjoys the number one ranking because it is the primary hub for Delta Air Lines, one of the world’s largest airlines. Delta brings a lot of connecting passengers to Atlanta.
ATL’s lead over Beijing seems secure because late in 2019 Beijing opened a second international airport – brand new Daxing International (PKX). Beijing traffic will be split between PKK and PKX. I hope the similar airport codes does not lead to some passengers showing up at the wrong airport.
We also have the first glimpse of the pandemic’s effect on passenger traffic. Airports Council International released first quarter 2020 statistics showing decreases in traffic over the same period in 2019 at each of the busiest airports.
- Hartsfield-Jackson International (ATL) Atlanta, GA – 18.2%
- Beijing Capital International (PKK) Beijing, China – 66.2%
- Los Angeles International (LAX) Los Angeles, CA – 21.7%
- Dubai International (DXB) Dubai, UAE – 19.9%
- Tokyo International (Haneda) (HND) Tokyo, Japan – 28.5%
- Chicago O’Hare (ORD) Chicago, IL – n/a
- London Heathrow (LHR) London, England – 18.3%
- Shanghai Pudong International (PVG) Shanghai, China – 57.1%
- Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Paris, France – 21.6%
- Dallas-Fort Worth International (DFW) Dallas, TX – 12.3%
Beijing Capital Airport
Statistics for the second quarter will better reflect the extent of traffic decreases for the United States and Europe.
Anchorage, AK Now Leads the World in Flight Operations
According to Traveler Magazine, the title of world’s busiest airport (by flight operations) now belongs to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) in Anchorage Alaska. The population of Anchorage is only about 291,000. Its location, however, is ideal for cargo operations, and cargo flights are one of the few bright spots in commercial aviation.
ANC is less than 9.5 hours from 90% of the industrialized world. Seeking additional revenue, some airlines have concentrated on expanding cargo service and have even reconfigured some passenger airliners to haul cargo.
The boom in cargo flights and bust in passenger service means that Anchorage now holds the dual distinction of having the world’s busiest airports by operations on land and water.
ANC’s next door neighbor, Lake Hood Seaplane Base (LHD), is the world’s busiest seaplane base.
Congratulations Anchorage!
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Interesting!
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The workhorse of Alaska aviation is the float plane. Small single-engine planes on floats come out in force in summer hauling passengers and supplies to remote villages, mining camps, and hunting and fishing lodges throughout Alaska. In the 90s my son and I took a sightseeing trip on a float plane from Lake Hood Seaplane Base. We had great views of the terrain around Anchorage and even saw wildlife from the air. We landed on another lake before returning to LHD. It was a great flight.
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Sounds awesome. So other airports are doing much less business, but Alaska has no choice but to get ahead of winter and are business as usual.
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Passenger flight are greatly decreased everywhere because of the virus. Cargo flights, on the other hand, continue. Many cargo aircraft require an intermediate stop on very long distance flights. Anchorage’s location has made it an ideal stopping point for cargo flights between the U.S. and Asia and other locations. When passenger flight come back, ANC will lose its ranking. I think it is neat that Anchorage has the busiest airports on land and sea right now.
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interesting fun fact about Anchorage! I’ve only thought about the impact on airlines of the pandemic, but airports and all the businesses within the airports must also be severely affected.
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I think that must be right. Airport businesses and airports as operating entities must be crushed. I’m guessing that the only airport group unaffected by the loss of business is TSA. Probably no layoffs there.
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no layoffs, but probably a lot of down time…
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