The definition of world's busiest airport has been specified by the Airports Council International in Montreal, Canada.[1] The ACI defines and measures the following three types of airport traffic:

Busiest airports

The following airports make claims based on objective volume measures that are defined above (as per ACI):

Most passengers annually (1998–2019, 2021–present)[5][6]
Most aircraft movements annually (2015–present)[7]
Most passengers annually (2020)[8]
Most international passengers annually (2014–present)[9]
Most cargo traffic by weight annually (2020–2021)[10]
Most cargo traffic by weight annually (2022–present)

Busiest city destination

Most passengers annually in all city airports combined (2010–present)[11]

Historical claims

In the late 1940s, Chicago Midway was the busiest airport in the United States by total aircraft operations – i.e., including every training aircraft practicing take-offs and landings.[12] New York LaGuardia had the most airline operations and passengers until the early 1950s, when Chicago Midway became the busiest airport in the United States by any criterion. Before World War II, Chicago Midway was the origin or destination of one in four U.S. airline flights,[13] although a 1939 Official Aviation Guide shows more airline flights scheduled at Newark than at Chicago.[citation needed]
As the home of FedEx Express, Memphis had the largest cargo operations worldwide from 1993 to 2009. It remains the busiest cargo airport in the United States and the Western Hemisphere.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Airports Welcome Record 4.4 Billion Passengers in 2006". Airports Council International. Archived from the original on 22 February 2008. Retrieved 13 June 2008.
  2. ^ "Passenger Traffic 2007 Preliminary". Airports Council International. Archived from the original on April 29, 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2008.
  3. ^ "Cargo Traffic 2007 Preliminary". Airports Council International. Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved 13 June 2008.
  4. ^ "Traffic Movements 2007 Preliminary". Airports Council International. Retrieved 13 June 2008.
  5. ^ Hinz, Greg (26 January 2017). "World's busiest airport title slips further from O'Hare's grasp". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  6. ^ "The top 10 busiest airports in the world revealed". ACI World. Airports Council International. 11 April 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  7. ^ Cripps, Karla (4 April 2016). "World's busiest airports announced". CNN. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  8. ^ Kenji Kawase (25 January 2021). "China's Guangzhou airport crowns itself the world's busiest for 2020". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  9. ^ "Heathrow airport overtaken by Dubai as world's busiest". The Guardian. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  10. ^ "World Airport Rankings 2010 from Airports Council International". Airports Council International. 2011. Archived from the original on 14 December 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  11. ^ "Beijing to overtake London as world's largest aviation hub". CAPA. 16 September 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  12. ^ American Aviation 15 Mar 1947, 15 Mar 1948, 15 Apr 1949, 15 Apr 1950
  13. ^ Michelle Mullins (18 July 1999). "Region leads the way in flight". Archived from the original on 19 December 2002. Retrieved 7 March 2008.
  14. ^ "Table 2 – TOTAL CARGO TRAFFIC 2013 – Preliminary World Airport Traffic and Rankings 2013 – High Growth Dubai Moves Up to 7th Busiest Airport – Mar 31, 2014". Airports Council International. March 31, 2014. Retrieved 2014-07-06.

External links

Lists of airports
Aviation statistics
Category