Air traffic is huge in the 21st century, with the number of passengers at airports increasing every year. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has been the world’s busiest airport every year since 1998, except for 2020. The world’s busiest airports in terms of passenger traffic are measured based on total passengers provided by Airports Council International. Here we have listed the top 10 busiest airports in the world by 2025.
Five of the world’s busiest airports on this list are located in the United States. Eight countries have at least two airports in the top 50, with the United States having 19, Turkey having three, and France, Germany, India, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom having two each.
10. Los Angeles International Airport
Total passenger: 76.5 million
- Location: Los Angeles, California, United States
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary international airport serving the U.S. state of California and its surrounding metropolitan area. According to the Airports Council International rankings, it is in the top ten busiest airports.
As the largest and busiest international airport on the West Coast of the United States, LAX is a major international gateway for the country. It serves as a connection point for passengers traveling internationally (such as to East and Southeast Asia, Australia, Mexico, and Central America).
The airport is operated by Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), a branch of the Los Angeles city government, which also operates Van Nuys Airport for general aviation. It is also the only airport to rank in the top five U.S. airports for both passenger and cargo traffic.
See Also: Cleanest Airports In The World
09. Shanghai Pudong International Airport
Total passenger: 76.7 million
- Location: Pudong, Shanghai, China
Shanghai Pudong International Airport is one of two international airports serving Shanghai, China. The airport serves international flights and a small number of domestic flights, while the city’s other major airport, Shanghai-Hongqiao, mainly serves domestic and regional flights in East Asia.
Pudong Airport is a rapidly growing hub for both passenger and cargo traffic. With a projected cargo movement of 3,440,084 metric tons in 2024, the airport is the third busiest in the world in terms of cargo traffic.
Pudong Airport served a total of 76 million passengers in 2024, making it the second busiest airport in China after Guangzhou Baiyun Airport, and the ninth busiest in the world. Shanghai Pudong is China’s busiest international hub, and about half of its total passenger traffic is international.
08. Indira Gandhi International Airport
Total passenger: 77.8 million
- Location: Palam, Delhi, India
Indira Gandhi International Airport is the primary international airport serving the Indian capital Delhi and the National Capital Region. Named after former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi, it has been India’s busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic since 2009.
It is also the country’s busiest airport in terms of cargo traffic. In the 2023–24 financial year, the airport handled 73.6 million passengers, making it the world’s second busiest airport by seating capacity, with a seating capacity of over 3.6 million seats.
It is also Asia’s busiest airport by passenger traffic. In fact, it regularly ranks among the world’s busiest airports according to the Airports Council International rankings.
The Terminal 3 building has a capacity to handle 34 million passengers annually and was the 8th largest passenger terminal in the world upon completion. In July 2023 the airport inaugurated a 4,400 m runway and 2.1 km Eastern Cross Taxiway (ECT), which has dual parallel taxiways.
07. Istanbul Airport
Total passenger: 79.9 million
- Location: Arnavutköy, Istanbul, Turkey
Istanbul Airport is the larger of the two international airports serving Istanbul, Turkey. It is the largest airport in Turkey and the second busiest airport in Europe.
It will serve over 76 million passengers in 2023, making it the second busiest airport in Europe after Heathrow Airport and the second busiest airport in the Middle East after Dubai International Airport.
It is also one of the top 10 busiest airports in the world in 2025 in terms of total passenger traffic. It serves 122 countries and is a hub for Turkish Airlines.
After Atatürk Airport was closed to scheduled passenger flights on 6 April 2019, all scheduled commercial passenger flights were shifted from Atatürk Airport to Istanbul Airport.
06. Denver International Airport
Total passenger: 82.3 million
- Location: Denver, Colorado, United States
Denver International Airport is an international airport in the western United States, primarily serving the metropolitan Denver, Colorado as well as the larger Front Range urban corridor. It is the second busiest airport on Earth after King Fahd International Airport.
DEN currently serves 25 different airlines, providing non-stop service to over 215 destinations throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The airport is a major hub for United Airlines and the largest operating base for both Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines.
It is the sixth busiest airport in the world in 2025, and remains the third busiest airport in the United States. The airport served approximately 77.8 million passengers in 2023.
See Also: Most Beautiful Airports In The World
05. Heathrow Airport
Total passenger: 83.8 million
- Location: Hillingdon, London, United Kingdom
Heathrow Airport is the main international airport serving London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It is one of the busiest airports in the world by passenger traffic and the second busiest by international passenger traffic.
It is also the largest of the six international airports in the London Airport System. It is by far the airport with the most international connections in the world.
Heathrow was founded in 1930 as a small airfield, but was developed into a much larger airport after World War II. The airport is the primary hub for British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.
04. Tokyo Haneda Airport
Total passenger: 85 million
- Location: Ōta, Tokyo, Japan
Haneda Airport is the busiest of the two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other being Narita International Airport. In 2020, Haneda was named the second best airport after Singapore’s Changi Airport and the world’s best domestic airport.
Haneda handled 87 million passengers in 2018 making it Asia’s third busiest airport and the world’s fourth busiest airport by passenger flow. It is located in Ota, Tokyo, 15 kilometers south of Tokyo Station.
It is set to become Asia’s second busiest airport after Dubai International Airport in 2023 in the Airports Council International rankings. The facility covers 1,522 hectares of land.
03. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport
Total passenger: 87.8 million
- Location: Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas, United States
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is the primary international airport serving the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex region in the U.S. state of Texas. It is one of the top 10 busiest airports in the world by aircraft movements.
The airport is the largest hub for American Airlines, which is headquartered near the airport, and is the second-busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic in 2022 and 2023 according to Airports Council International.
The hub that American Airlines operates at DFW is the second-largest single airline hub in the world and in the United States, after Delta Air Lines’ hub in Atlanta.
DFW Airport has service to 254 destinations (191 domestic, 63 international) from 28 passenger airlines. As of April 2023, DFW Airport has service to more nonstop destinations than any other airport in North America.
02. Dubai International Airport
Total passenger: 92.3 million
- Location: Garhoud, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dubai International Airport is the primary and principal international airport serving Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is the world’s busiest airport by international passenger traffic.
Dubai Airport is also the second busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic, and the airport with the highest average number of passengers per flight. In 2023, the airport handled 87 million passengers and 1.81 million tons of cargo, an increase of 31% year-on-year, and 1% more than in 2019.
Dubai International Airport is located in the Al Garhoud district, with Terminal 3 being the world’s second-largest building by floor space and the world’s largest airport terminal.
2.92 miles east of Dubai’s city center In July 2019, Dubai International Airport installed the largest solar power system among the region’s airports as part of Dubai’s goal of reducing the city’s energy consumption by 30 percent by 2030.
See Also: Best Airports In The World
01. Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Total passenger: 108 million
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the primary international airport serving Atlanta and its surrounding metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is named for former Atlanta mayors William B. Hartsfield and Maynard Jackson.
Since 1998, Hartsfield–Jackson has been the busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic, except in 2020, when its passenger traffic declined that year due to travel restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2024, the airport served over 108 million passengers, the most of any airport in the world. Hartsfield–Jackson is also the world’s busiest airport by aircraft movements.
In addition to Delta, Hartsfield–Jackson is also a focus city for low-cost carriers Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines. The airport has international service throughout North America and Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and East Asia.
Hi, audience here a list of 10 busiest airports in the world.
Hi there very nice site!! Man .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I will bookmark your website and take the feeds also? I am satisfied to find a lot of useful info right here in the post, we’d like develop more strategies on this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .|