Atlanta airport retakes title as busiest in world
ATLANTA — Hartsfield-Jackson International is once again the world’s busiest airport, reclaiming the title Atlanta lost when targeted visitors plummeted for the duration of the pandemic.
The Atlanta airport documented much more than 75 million travellers in 2021, a considerably cry from pre-pandemic concentrations that topped 100 million a yr. But other airports all over the earth are also even now recovering.
Past yr, Atlanta handled the most travellers and the most flights of any airport in the earth, according to the formal rankings released Monday from Airports Council Intercontinental.
Hartsfield-Jackson reclaimed the title just after an airport in China, Guanzhou Bai Yun Intercontinental Airport, took the No. 1 place in 2020. China staged an first pandemic restoration previously than the relaxation of the world, but some towns, these kinds of as Shanghai, have reinstated limited restrictions and lockdowns. Reach out to an expert
Air travel is a vital economic barometer not only for Atlanta but for the world economic system.
The rankings for 2021 “explain to the tale of an encouraging pattern of recovery, with most of the recurrent busiest airports pre-covid-19 back again at the top rated,” reported ACI World Director Normal Luis Felipe de Oliveira in a prepared assertion.
Hartsfield-Jackson’s passenger counts in 2021 were being up 76.4% from 2020, but even now down nearly a person-3rd from 2019. Because the retreat of the omicron variant previously this calendar year, domestic targeted traffic has been nearing pre-pandemic amounts.
“Although we are careful that restoration could facial area several headwinds, the momentum made by reopening plans by nations around the world could direct to an uptick in journey in the next fifty percent of 2022,” de Oliveira mentioned.
In the No. 2 location for passenger site visitors powering Atlanta was Dallas/Fort Worthy of with 62.5 million passengers, jumping up from No. 4 in 2020 and the No. 10 in 2019.
Denver Worldwide Airport came in third in 2021. Chicago O’Hare came in fourth with 54 million passengers.
Globally, about 4.5 billion travellers flew by air in 2021, up approximately 25% from 2020 but nevertheless just half of 2019 ranges, in accordance to Airports Council Global.
With leisure travel recovering the quickest, Orlando International Airport had the biggest improvement in passenger targeted traffic in the world, with an 86.7% year-about-12 months boost to 40.4 million passengers, putting it in the No. 7 spot in 2021.
Hartsfield-Jackson reported 707,661 landings and take-offs in 2021, up 29.1% for 2020 but even now down 21.7% from 2019.
Atlanta had been displaced in past years by Chicago O’Hare in the No. 1 spot for flight counts, but Atlanta had the most flights in 2020 and 2021.