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 busiest airport in the world 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. This is defined as passengers boarding an aircraft, passengers disembarking from an aircraft, and direct transit passengers. Here we have listed the top 10 busiest airports in the world by 2024.
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.
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.
Chicago O’Hare International Airport is a major international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, United States. O’Hare has non-stop flights to 214 destinations in North America, South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Oceania, and the North Atlantic region as of November 2022.
O’Hare is considered the world’s most connected airport. It is also the fifth busiest airport and the 9th largest airport in the U.S.A. O’Hare is the hub for American Airlines and United Airlines (which has its headquarters in Willis Tower), as well as the operations hub for Spirit Airlines.
O’Hare became famous during the jet age, holding its distinction as the world’s busiest airport by passenger traffic from 1963 to 1998. It is still one of the world’s busiest airports, according to the Airports Council International rankings.
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.
07. Istanbul Airport
Location: Arnavutköy, Istanbul, Turkey
Total passenger: 76.02 million
Istanbul Airport is the larger of the two international airports serving Istanbul, Turkey. It is located in the Arnavutköy district on the European side of the city, and is the largest airport in Turkey.
It served over 76 million passengers, making it the second busiest airport in Europe after Heathrow Airport and is also the 7th busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic.
After Atatürk Airport was closed to scheduled passenger flights on 6 April 2019, all scheduled commercial passenger flights were transferred from Atatürk Airport to Istanbul Airport.
Istanbul Airport was the sixth busiest airport in the world in terms of international passenger traffic according to ACI World Traffic Value, serving over 58 million international passengers. It serves up to 114 countries and is a hub for Turkish Airlines.
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 and remains the third busiest airport in the United States, having served approximately 77.8 million passengers.
Haneda Airport is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area. Combining Haneda and Narita, Tokyo has the world’s third busiest city airport after London and New York. In 2020, Haneda was named the second best airport after Singapore’s Changi Airport and the world’s best domestic airport.
Haneda handled 87,098,683 passengers in 2018; by passenger flow, it was Asia’s third busiest airport and the world’s fourth busiest. It returned to Asia’s second busiest airport after Dubai International Airport in the Airports Council International rankings in 2023.
It maintained its second place between Qatar’s Hamad International Airport and Singapore’s Changi Airport in Skytrax’s World’s Top 100 Airports for 2021 and 2022, and retained its best domestic airport title from the previous year.
04. Heathrow Airport
Image: InternationalAirportReview.com
Location: Hillingdon, London, United Kingdom
Total passenger: 79.18 million
Heathrow Airport is the main international airport serving London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It is the fourth busiest airport 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.
03. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport
Image: Sika.com
Location: Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas, United States
Total passenger: 81.75 million
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is the primary international airport serving the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex area in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the third-busiest airport 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 191 domestic, 63 international destinations from 28 passenger airlines. Every major city in the United States can be reached in four hours or less. It is also the world’s largest carbon neutral airport and the first airport in North America to achieve this status.
02. Dubai International Airport
Image: Emirates.com
Location: Garhoud, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Total passenger: 86.99 million
Dubai International Airport is the primary and major international airport serving Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is the world’s busiest airport by international passenger traffic.
Dubai Airport is also the world’s second busiest airport 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 tonnes 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. By 2024, there are over 8,000 weekly flights operated by 100 airlines to more than 262 destinations across all inhabited continents.
01. Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Image: Airport-technology.com
Location: Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Total passenger: 104.65 million
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 world’s busiest airport by passenger traffic – except for the pandemic-hit 2020. In 2023, the airport served more than 104.6 million passengers, the most of any airport in the world.
With more than 1,000 flights daily to 225 domestic and international destinations, the Delta hub is the world’s largest airline hub and is considered the first mega-hub in the US.
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.
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