These are the top 10 busiest airports in the world—5 of them are in the U.S. (2024)

Airports Council International, the trade association of the world's airports, recently released its annual ranking of the busiest airports in the world.

The United States dominated the list, with half of the airports in the top 10 spread across the country.

Airports Council International's report noted that despite the increase in the number of passengers, the number of people who traveled in 2022 was still down from pre-Covid pandemic figures in 2019.

Top 10 busiest airports in the world

  1. Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
  2. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
  3. Denver International Airport (DEN)
  4. Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
  5. DubaiInternationalAirport (DXB)
  6. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
  7. Istanbul Airport (IST)
  8. Heathrow Airport (LHR)
  9. Indira Gandhi InternationalAirport (DEL)
  10. ParisCharles de Gaulle Airport (CDG)

Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson international airport topped the list as the world's busiest airport for the second year in a row. The airport had an increase of 23.8% to 93,699,630 passengers in 2022.

Although the airport was ranked the busiest, its number of passengers in 2022 was still 15% less than in 2019, according to ACI.

The only year that Atlanta hasn't been the busiest airport in the last four years was 2020 when ATL came in second behind Guangzhou Baiyun International Airportin southern China.

Hartsfield-Jackson also serves as the primary hub for Delta Air Lines.

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport came in second on the list with 73.4 million passengers in 2022. The Texas airport saw an increase of 17.5% from 2021 but a 2.3% decrease from 2019.

The airport is the largest hub for American Airlines. DFW is the second-largest airport by land area in the United States afterDenver International Airport, according to the Department of Transportation.

DFW is so big that it even has its own post officeZIP code. It occupies more surface area than the entire island of Manhattan in New York, according to NASA.

Denver's international airport rounded out the top three on the list. The Colorado facility had 69,289,461 passengers in 2022, up 17.8% compared with 2021.

Unlike the top two airports, DEN saw an increase of 0.4% in passengers compared with the pre-pandemic time in 2019. The airport is a major hub for bothUnited AirlinesandFrontier Airlines.

Denver International Airport has also been among the top 20 busiest airports in the world every year since 2000, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

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These are the top 10 busiest airports in the world—5 of them are in the U.S. (2024)

FAQs

What are the top 5 busiest airports in the US? ›

Eight U.S. airports ranked among those with the most “aircraft movements,” or landings and takeoffs: Atlanta, Chicago (O'Hare), Dallas Fort Worth, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles (LAX), Charlotte, and New York (JFK).

What are the top 10 busiest airports in the world? ›

What are the 10 busiest airports in the world?
  1. Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (104.65 million) ...
  2. Dubai International Airport (87 million) ...
  3. Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport (81.75 million) ...
  4. London's Heathrow Airport (79.2 million) ...
  5. Tokyo Haneda International Airport (78.7 million)
Apr 15, 2024

What is the #1 airport in the US? ›

No airport enplaned and deplaned more passengers than Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which retained its No. 1 ranking for another year. According to ACI, the Atlanta airport saw more than 104.7 million passengers in 2023, or roughly 18 million more than second-ranked Dubai International Airport.

What are the top 10 airports in United States? ›

US Top 40 Airports
Rank (2022)Airports (large)State
1Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International AirportGA
2Dallas/Fort Worth International AirportTX
3Denver International AirportCO
4O'Hare International AirportIL
26 more rows

What is the #1 busiest airport? ›

No airport enplaned and deplaned more passengers than Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which retained its No. 1 ranking for another year. According to ACI, the Atlanta airport had more than 104.7 million passengers in 2023, or roughly 18 million more than Dubai International Airport, which was second.

What is the busiest airport in the world in 2024? ›

Which is the Busiest AIrport in the World? Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) continues to be The Busiest Global Airport in May 2024 with 5.5 million seats, 3% more seats per day than last month.

What is the busiest airport in the US today? ›

The busiest airport in the United States is Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL). The Atlanta airport is also the No. 1 busiest airport in the world. In 2022, 45.4 million passengers boarded commercial aircraft in Atlanta, according to the FAA.

What is the most crowded airport in the world? ›

The world's busiest airport is Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, which has been the world's busiest airport every year since 1998 with the exception of 2020, when its passenger traffic dipped for a year due to travel restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

What is the 1 biggest airport? ›

1. King Fahd International Airport (DMM) — Dammam, Saudi Arabia. At 299.61 square miles (776 square kilometers), King Fahd International Airport is the largest airport in the world by total area.

What is the 5 star airport in the US? ›

Hobby Airport is the only North American airport with a 5-star Skytrax rating with George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) keeping its 4-star Skytrax rating for a seventh straight year. The announcement came during the 2024 Skytrax World Airport Awards in Frankfurt, Germany on Wednesday, April 17.

What is the nicest airport in America? ›

ASQ Awards based on global on-site passenger survey program

Airports Council International (ACI) has named Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) as the Best Airport in North America through its global passenger survey program.

Which US city has 6 airports? ›

New York has six total airports as well, but not all serve international flights: John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)

What are the four busiest airports in the US? ›

List of Airports With Their Rankings and Traffic as per Last Available Data
RankingAirportsTraffic (as per last updated data)
1Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport93,699,630
2Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport73,362,946
3Denver International Airport69,286,461
4O'Hare International Airport68,340,619
6 more rows
Apr 1, 2024

What is the 3 biggest airport in the US? ›

3. Orlando International Airport (MCO), Florida: 53.83km² Orlando International Airport (MCO) is the third largest airport in North America, spanning 53.83km² (20.8 square miles), which includes four runways and one helipad. MCO was first opened as McCoy US Air Force Base in 1942 for military operations.

What is the 7th busiest airport in the US? ›

In its 2022 rankings, ACI placed CLT No. 7 in the U.S. and world for air traffic.

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