Atlanta, Dubai, London & co: here are the busiest airports in 2022

The Global Airports Association - Airports Council International (Aci World) - released in recent hours its annual report listing the 10 busiest airports in the world during the past year.

According to Aci World's preliminary estimates in 2022 traveled approx. 7 billion people, a number that reaches 73.8% compared to 2019 levels; but which also shows a growth of 53.5% compared to 2021.

Atlanta's home success.

Once again, it is Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport that retains the top spot as the world's busiest airport-a position now firmly established for the mega-hub of Delta Air Lines capable of handling more than 93 million passengers.

Atlanta maintains its lead, however, thanks almost exclusively to domestic passengers. When, on the other hand, only international passengers are evaluated, in fact, the ranking undergoes a radical change with the podium that sees Dubai winning over London Heathrow e Amsterdam Schiphol.

Overall, the top 10 airports by total passenger traffic account for about 10% of world traffic, registering a 51.7% increase over 2021 and reaching 85.9% of pre-Covid levels.

Passengers, U.S. domination continues

In the ranking of the top 10 by number of passengers, the U.S. domination is emphasized with the top 4 positions in the ranking being the preserve of U.S. airports. The Atlanta airport (93.7million passengers and a +23.8% over the previous year) precedes the airport in Dallas Fort Worth (73.4 million passengers and hub of American Airlines), that of Denver (69.3 million passengers for the Frontier hub) and the airport O'Hare of Chicago (68.3 millon passengers per year for United Airlines' hub).

In fifth place comes Dubai with 66.1 million passengers; but in sixth place the U.S. dominance returns with Los Angeles and its 65.9 million passengers transited in 2022. All U.S. airports, however, presnt an impoirtant share of domestic travelers (from 75% to 95%).

The new aistanbul international airport jumps from the 28th position in 2019 to the current seventh with over 64 million passengers. Closing out the top ten are. London Heathrow (61 million), New Delhi (59 million) and Paris Charles de Gaulle with 57.4 million passengers).

The first Italian airport is, as usual, Rome Fiumicino which approached 30 million passengers and is still far from the top of this special global ranking.

Dubai and London leading international traffic

Looking then at the results based on the number of international passengers, the ranking changes completely and restores confidence in the role and model of European hub airports.

Dubai is the leading airport, followed by London and Amsterdam with 66, 58 and 52 million passengers, respectively. They are followed by Paris, Istanbul, Frankfurt and Madrid.

Doha Airport (35 million), Singapore Airport (31 million pax) and London Gatwick with 30.1 million passengers close the top ten in international passengers.

Looking finally at aircraft movements during the entire 2022 always wins the U.S. with the presence of as many as nine out of 10 airports. While first place is once again for Atlanta, from the Second to ninth places are respectively. the airports of Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Charlotte, Miami, and New York Jfk. Istanbul International Airport comes in 10th place.