The busiest airports in the world in 2024 are airports with massive numbers of passengers and flights. The busy airports can be beneficial as they could mean frequent and affordable flights.
This may also bring about long queues at security and baggage claim and with this, you should be prepared for lots of companies at these airports on this list.
The rankings show the importance of these airports in the aviation industry. The cities these airports are in are economic engines in them.
These are the top 15 world's busiest airports 2024 (+ United States),
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport
- Dallas Fort Worth International Airport
- Denver International Airport
- Chicago's O'Hare International Airport
- Los Angeles International Airport
- Charlotte Douglas International Airport
- Orlando International Airport
- Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport
- Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport
- Las Vegas Airport
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
- Miami International Airport
- Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport
- Istanbul Airport
- Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport
Check them out, their location, total passengers deplaned and enplaned, unloaded and loaded freight (cargo), aircraft operations that are takeoffs and landings, and much more. All the data used in ranking these airports are gotten from the Airports Council International (ACI).
Keep reading!
1. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport - The Busiest Airport in the World
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| Image credit: Formulanone from Huntsville, United States |
Location: Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Total passengers: 75,704,760
Aircraft operations: 707,661
IATA code: ATL
ICAO: KATL
The airport location plays a great role in being the major hub for the world's largest airlines, making it one of the busiest airports in the world.
It has the highest number of passengers even though the city of Atlanta has just over 500,000 population. Here is why, the state and the local community support each other in attracting Aviation companies.
The airport is located in a metropolitan area with more than 6 million population which has an effect on how busy it is. Another important reason is that it is the main airport hub for Delta Air Lines.
SkyTeam's founding member and the US legacy carrier use this airport as their main hub. It is the busiest airport regarding aircraft movements, landing, and takeoff.
2. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport
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| Image credit: Tom Walsh |
Location: Tarrant and Dallas counties, Texas, United States
Total passengers: 62,465,756
Aircraft operations: 651,895
IATA code: DFW
ICAO: KDFW
During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an even more surge in the population of passengers in this airport.
This is because there was low demand for flights, and for this, demand was reduced. However, passengers have to pass through airports like Dallas-Fort Worth, which brings about a surge in passengers.
With this, it is still operating more flights than any other place on the planet minus the ATL. Right now, the airport is operating more flights making it second on the list of the busiest airports in the world in 2024.
3. Denver International Airport
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| Image credit: Tucker Gladden |
Location: Northeast Denver, Colorado, United States
Total passengers: 58,828,552
Aircraft operations: 580,866
IATA code: DEN
ICAO: KDEN
One of the reasons this airport ranks among the top 10 busiest airports in the world in 2024 is because of the fact that it was the largest station for three main carriers.
Another driving force for being on the top list was the increasingly large demand for leisure travel and tremendous desire for travel to locations with access to wide-open regions where people can socially distance or isolate themself.
The location of DEN is favorable as well as 60% of the United States passengers at this airport is connecting to flight.
See also:
4. Chicago's O'Hare International Airport
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| Image credit: Travel Savvy |
Location: O'Hare, Chicago, Illinois, United States
Total passengers: 54,020,399
Aircraft operations: 684,201
Total cargo (tons): 2,536,576
IATA code: ORD
ICAO: KORD
It is the fourth busiest airport in 2024 due to its annual millions of passengers and when it comes to aircraft movements, landings, and takeoffs, it is the 2nd busiest airport.
Jamie Rhee of the Department of Aviation Commissioner says of this airport that, "our location in the heart of the nation, which enables us to serve many diverse markets, is by far our biggest strength.
The airfield's modernization and installation of a modernized parallel runway system are nearly complete". The rise in flight operations can also be partially attributed to the expansion of routes run by United Airlines and American Airlines, both of which use this very airport as a hub.
5. Los Angeles International Airport
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| Image credit: D Ramey Logan |
Location: Westchester, Los Angeles, California, United States
Total passengers: 48,007,284
Aircraft operations: 506,769
Total cargo (tons): 2,691,830
IATA code: LAX
ICAO: KLAX
Well, what actually attributed to the increase in the number of passengers using this airport is that, just as we are getting over the COVID-19 pandemic, people are really excited about moving around freely, even though there are still some travel restrictions.
It is a fascinating airport as there are art spaces in which temporary art exhibitions can be seen. Every day, there are about 692 flights to 85 domestic cities.
Googie is the Mid-Century architecture style which is a landmark as the theme building. If you are hungry here, there are about 85 places to eat. There are 40 hotels as well close to the airports.
6. Charlotte Douglas International Airport
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| Image credit: Cltairport.com |
Location: Charlotte in North Carolina, United States
Total passengers: 43,302,230
Aircraft operations: 519,895
IATA code: CLT
ICAO: KCLT
The main reason CLT is ranked as the 6th among the busiest airports in the world is that many "people expressed a desire to fly once more, and we are pleased to work with the airlines to service these customers arriving in Charlotte," as stated by CLT CEO Haley Gentry.
And it is predicted by airport officials that there is the possibility of total recovery of traveling by 2023.
To accommodate date these massive passengers, there are some construction milestones to be completed soon, such as the new concessions throughout the terminal, the west end of the expanded terminal lobby, and the expansion on Concourse E.
7. Orlando International Airport
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| Image credit: Orlandoairports.net |
Location: United States
Total passengers: 40,351,068
Aircraft operations: 310,117
IATA code: MCO
ICAO: KMCO
It is a busy airport because there are many tourist attractions in Orlando. In order to accommodate more flights and crowds better, the airport is presently working on another terminal.
One report claims that this quarter would see a nearly 10,000 increase in aircraft passing through this Airport compared to the same period last year.
Let's see how this will happen soon fully. In the first three months of this year, there are 36% of 12 major airlines' flights to and from MCO.
The 12 most popular airlines reported in this airport include United, Sun Country, Spirit, Southwest, Silver, JetBlue, Hawaiian, Frontier, Delta, American, Alaska, and Avelo.
See also:
8. Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport
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| Image credit: Top China travel |
Location: Baiyun–Huadu, Guangdong, China
Total passengers: 40,259,401
Aircraft operations: 362,470
Total cargo (tons): 2,044,909
IATA code: CAN
ICAO: ZGGG
It is China's busiest airport and of course one of the busiest airports in the world in 2024. Two years ago, it was the first on the list but was overtaken by other airports due to the pandemic.
As the pandemic still remains a threat, several workers in this airport went down with Covid-19 and with this, many international flights and nearly all domestic flights were reduced.
Due to a personnel shortage, practically all domestic flights as well as many foreign flights to and from the airport have been canceled since the majority of airport and airline ground staff have been quarantined or are still within the lockdown.
This is the current situation at this very airport, and this will surely affect future data, as it might drop even more on this list.
9. Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport
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| Image credit: China Discovery |
Location: Shuangliu, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Total passengers: 40,117,496
Aircraft operations: 317,855
Total cargo (tons): 1,568, 283
IATA code: CTU
ICAO: ZUUU
It is one of the oldest airports in china founded in 1938 and it was previously called Shuangguisi Airport. It is a busy airport in Western China.
CTU airport is like a southwest window in China facing the world. It is the main international airport in Chengdu, which is the Sichuan province's capital city.
It is an airport hub for airlines such as Shenzhen Airlines, Lucky Air, Tibet Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, Chengdu Airlines, and Air China. It have 2 passenger terminals, Termina 1 and 2.
The airport has a beautiful environment, modernized facilities, and more attentive service.
10. Las Vegas Airport
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| Image credit: Las-vegas-airport.org |
Location: Paradise, Nevada, United States
Total passengers: 39,754,366
Aircraft operations: 486,540
IATA code: LAS
ICAO: KLAS
It was officially opened in 1942. Its official name is Harry Reid International Airport and was previously known as McCarran International Airport.
It is the major commercial airport serving Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. It is certainly one of the busiest airports in the world as well as in the United States in 2024.
It is the United States' busiest airport that does not operate for any of the five USA legacy carriers as a hub. The airport has 2 passenger terminals and 4 runways.
Some of the carriers in this airport include United, Sun Country, Spirit, Southwest, JetBlue, Frontier, Delta, American, Allegiant, and Alaska.
11. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
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| Image credit: Cygnusloop99 |
Location: Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Total passengers: 38,846,713
Aircraft operations: 408,285
Total cargo (tons): 441,993
IATA code: PHX
ICAO: KPHX
Each day over 1,200 aircraft depart and arrive at this airport which also means 125,000 passengers arrive and depart as well as more than 1,000 tons of air cargo.
The airport has four terminals. Presently, there are more than 20,000 parking spaces here. There are three runways, South Runway, Center Runway, and North Runway.
PHX stood out in both of the 15 categories thanks to its quick Wi-Fi, short wait times for security screenings, positive Yelp ratings for restaurant reviews, quick taxi rides to plane takeoffs, and affordable average Uber costs to go city. This also accounts for the vast number of passengers here.
See also:
12. Miami International Airport
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| Image credit: Miamidade |
Location: Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States
Total passengers: 37,302,456
Aircraft operations: 387,973
Total cargo (tons): 2,520,859
IATA code: MIA
ICAO: KMIA
It is an airport that is situated on 3,230 acres close to downtown Miami. It is the first time MIA listed among the top busiest airport in the world, and it has more passengers than before.
There are more than 80 airlines serving this airport and are getting to 150 destinations around the world. It is the major gateway to Latin America with its domestic hub for its regional affiliate American Eagle in the USA.
Of recent, more people are interested in traveling due to the lifting of some of the pandemic restrictions.
13. Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport
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| Image credit: Kondephy |
Location: Palam, Delhi, India
Total passengers: 37,139,957
Aircraft operations: 327,429
IATA code: DEL
ICAO: VIDP
It is also known as Delhi Airport and IGI Airport. Its massive passengers were able to reach 62 international and 58 domestic destinations.
There are 56 international and 6 domestic carriers at IGIA. The airport is currently managed by the Airports Authority of India.
Take-offs and landings here are timely and can easily be predicted because of the use of an advanced system called Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM). It is India's and South Asia's largest aviation hub, as it has a present capacity of 62 million passengers.
14. Istanbul Airport
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| Image credit: Getty Image |
Location: Tayakadın Mahallesi, 34283 Arnavutköy/Istanbul, Turkey
Total passengers: 36,988,067
IATA code: IST
ICAO: LTFM
It is the busiest airport in Europe and one of the 14th busiest airports in the world in 2024 as well. It is one of the newly built as all passenger services were opened on April 6, 2019.
It commands such a huge number of passengers because it took over operations from the old Atatürk Airport. The air traffic control is a beautiful unique tower in this airport as it has the shape of a tulip which is a symbolic and famous flower in Turkish culture.
Even though there is still some work in progress, IST has already been serving as a central transit point with only one domestic gate and four international gates.
15. Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport
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| Image credit: Yicai Global |
Location: Baoan, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
Total passengers: 36,358,185
Aircraft operations: 317,855
Total cargo (tons): 1,568,293
IATA code: SZX
ICAO: ZGSZ
It is one of the busiest airports in the world and one of the world-class airport clusters which it is emerging in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), with the Shenzhen airport, serving as its hub.
It has been a long time since it is recognized as a busy domestic hub. Presently, it is dominating international air travel as it is now the ‘Chinese Silicon Valley’ technology hub.
The Top 10 Busiest Airport In The United States 2024
The details about these busiest airports in the United States in 2024 have already been covered above since most of the top busiest airports are currently in the US. However, this is their clear top 10 ranking.
1. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport
2. Dallas Fort Worth International (DFW) Airport
3. Denver International Airport
4. Chicago's O'Hare International Airport
5. Los Angeles International Airport
6. Charlotte Douglas International Airport
7. Orlando International Airport
8. Las Vegas Airport
9. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
10. Miami International Airport
What do you think about the busiest airports in the world in 2024 plus the busiest in the United States of America? We will like to hear from you in the comments section below (Post a comment). Please share this article and keep following us for the latest updates through our social media handles. Thanks for reading!
Nice compilation
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading the busiest airports in the world and in the U.S.
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