Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has held onto the title of World’s Busiest Airport for the 21st year in a row.
The 2018 Airports Council International released its annual world traffic report which tracked 8.8 billion passengers’ movements through airports around the world last year. According to CNN, the report showed that the Atlanta airport welcomed 107 million passengers through its doors, a 3.3% increase on the previous year. This is attributed to it being a major connecting hub and port of entry to the United States.
In second place is Beijing Capital Airport with 100 million passengers, and Dubai International Airport came in third at 89 million. In comparison, South Africa’s biggest airport, OR Tambo International, saw 21 million passengers during the 2018/2019 period, according to the Airports Company South Africa (ACSA).
The final report showed that the world’s fastest growing airports were found in China and India. In Bangalore, the latter’s Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru came in first with a significant increase of 29% in this field.
“With the cost of travel decreasing in many markets, and a burgeoning middle class growing in emerging markets, passenger traffic growth has remained irrepressible. Indeed, ACI’s global medium-term forecasts reveal growth in demand for air services between 2018 to 2023 will grow by almost 30%. This means many national governments face the predicament of demand outstripping available airport infrastructure,” said Airports Council International (ACI) in a statement on the preliminary results in March.
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