According to preliminary global air traffic figures, the United States dominated the list of the world’s busiest airports for passengers in 2022, with Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport coming in second.
The figures released on April 5 by Airports Council International (ACI World), a trade association that represents 1,925 airports, focus on passenger volume, per The Wall Street Journal.
Nonetheless, airports in the United States had an impressive showing last year.
Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport came in at first place for the second year in a row with 93.7 million passengers.
Dallas-Fort Worth logged 73.4 million passengers, while third place Denver International Airport came out just a bit ahead of fourth place Chicago O’Hare International Airport, with 69.3 million and 68.3 million travelers respectively.
With Los Angeles International Airport coming in sixth with 65.9 million passengers, U.S. airports occupied half of the top 10 busiest airports last year.
This is largely attributable to the rebound in the domestic market, for which the five airports account for between 75% and 95% of traffic, per CNN.
Yet international airports had a better showing in the top 10 list compared to last year, where U.S. airports dominated by occupying eight spots.
Dubai International, London Heathrow, and Paris Charles de Gaulle regained their positions in the top 10 busiest airports list after two years of absence due to the pandemic.
London Heathrow experienced the most significant year-over-year traffic growth with a 218% increase in passenger volume from 2021.
In a notable shift, China failed to secure a spot in the top 10 busiest airports list for the first time in years. Despite being the world’s second-largest domestic travel market after the U.S., none of China’s airports managed to make the cut.
China closed in borders in 2020 and only just started to ease its restrictions in the summer of 2022, as The Dallas Express reported.
In terms of what is in store for 2023, ACI World believes that air travel will pick up but still lag behind 2019 levels by 8%.
