US airport reclaims title as world’s busiest

China’s Guangzhou airport had held the title since 2020

The main hall of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (Getty Images)

Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has once again been named the world’s busiest airport, two years after slipping to second place on the list.

The Georgia hub had held the title for 22 years before it was knocked off the top spot in 2020 by Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.

The annual list is measured by passenger volume and compiled by the Airports Council International (ACI).

Hartsfield-Jackson International saw 75.7 million passengers during 2021, while Guangzhou’s airport plummeted to number eight for passenger figures, which hit only 40.3 million in 2021.

Atlanta’s passenger figures were up 76 per cent on 2020’s, when pandemic travel restrictions were at their worst, but the total remains nearly 32 per cent below its passenger volume measured in 2019.

US airports dominated the top of the list this year: Texas’s Dallas Fort Worth International was second with 62.5 million visitors, while Denver International in Colorado came third with 58.8 million.

Meanwhile, Chicago’s O’Hare Airport and Los Angeles International were in fourth and fifth respectively, with Charlotte, Orlando and Las Vegas’s international airports also making the top 10.

The world’s airports collectively saw an estimated 4.5 billion visitors during 2021, according to the report - representing a 25 per cent increase on 2020’s passenger numbers, but remaining more than 50 per cent lower than 2019’s.

ACI’s director general, Luis Felipe de Oliveira, said: “Although we are cautious that recovery could face multiple headwinds, the momentum created by reopening plans by countries could lead to an uptick in travel in the second half of 2022.”

World’s 10 busiest airports 2021

1. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International

75.7 million passengers

2. Dallas Fort Worth International

62.5 million passengers

3. Denver International

58.8 million passengers

4. Chicago O’Hare International

54 million passengers

5. Los Angeles International

48 million passengers

6. Charlotte Douglas International

43.3 million passengers

7. Orlando International

40.4 million passengers

8. Guangzhou Baiyun International

40.3 million passengers

9. Chengdu Shuangliu International

40.1 million passengers

10. Las Vegas Harry Reid International

39.8 million passengers