Airports Council International (ACI) World has published the top 10 busiest airports worldwide for 2022, which welcomes back some of the world’s largest airport hubs as international traffic returns, marking an important milestone in air travel’s full recovery from the impact of the pandemic.
1. Passenger traffic
Preliminary figures indicate that with the resumption of international travel, 2022 global passenger traffic reached close to 7 billion, representing an increase of 53.5% from 2021, or a 73.8% recovery from 2019 results.
The top 10 airports for total passenger traffic, representing 10% of global traffic, witnessed a gain of 51.7% from 2021, amounting to 85.9% recovery vis-à-vis their 2019 results.
The new top 10 busiest airports for passenger traffic reflects the resilience of the airport and aviation industry, and the eagerness of passengers to travel by air.
Luis Felipe de Oliveira, ACI World Director General
From the top 10 airports globally, 5 are in the United States. They all have significant domestic passenger shares (between 75% and 95% domestic traffic). “While US airport hubs were able to recover quicker due to their strong domestic market, we are now witnessing global hubs joining upper ranks—including Dubai, Istanbul, and London Heathrow airport”, said ACI World’s Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira.
Holding their positions from 2021, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL, 93.7 million passengers, +23.8%) is at the top of the 2022 rankings, followed by Dallas Fort Worth Airport (DFW, 73.4 million passengers, +17.5%), Denver Airport (DEN, 69.3 million passengers, +17.8%) and Chicago O’Hare Airport (ORD, 68.3 million passengers, +26.5%).
Airports reinstated in the upper ranks also include Dubai Airport achieving 5th rank (DXB, 66.1 million passengers, +127%), Istanbul Airport reaching 7th position (IST, 64.3 million passengers, +73.8%), followed by London Heathrow Airport, Delhi Airport and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in the 8th, 9th and 10th spots respectively.
The biggest jump in the top 10 was recorded for London Heathrow (LHR). The airport improved its ranking from the 54th position as borders reopened in March 2022 after two years of closures.
While US airports dominate among the top 10 when taking into consideration all passengers, when looking only at international arrivals and departures, none made it among the top 10. In this case, Dubai ranks first, with the chart predominantly featuring European airports.
“While we continue to march forward cautiously amidst multiple headwinds that could impact the speed and magnitude of global air traffic recovery, the latest rankings represent an important milestone in reaching pre-pandemic levels. The re-opening of China, the second largest aviation market after the US, is now expected to bring an overall gain, both domestically and for international travel”, said de Oliveira.
2. Aircraft movements
In 2022, global aircraft movements were close to 89 million, constituting a gain of 20.4% from 2021 results. This represents a recovery of 82.5% from pre-pandemic levels (2019).
The top 10 airports for aircraft movements, representing close to 7% of global traffic (5.7 million movements), witnessed a gain of 11.4% from their 2021 results, recovering to 91.5% vis-à-vis their 2019 results (6.2 million in 2019).
Atlanta International Airport is at the top again, with 724 thousand movements (+2.3% from 2021), but still below its 2019 result of 904 thousand movements (-19.9%). ORD (712 thousand movements, +4%) is in 2nd rank after leading ATL in 2019 and 2018, followed by DFW (657 thousand movements, +0.7%).
