2 weeks Ago By Rytis Beresnevičius
Airports Council International (ACI) World has unveiled its airport rankings for 2024, confirming that Atlanta’s main gateway has retained its top spot in the world despite Dubai International Airport (DXB) continuing to close the gap. At the same time, ACI highlighted the largest global hubs’ resilience amidst uncertain times, with the airports positioning themselves for prosperous futures. Hartsfield-Jackson Leading The Pack ACI shared its airport rankings for 2024, disclosing that Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) has retained its spot as the busiest airport in the world , with the gateway welcoming 108.
06 million passengers during the year. Other United States airports in the rankings were Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), placing third with 87.8 million travelers, Denver International Airport (DEN), ranking sixth with 82.
3 million passengers, and Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) with 80.43 million travelers. The latter airport placed eighth, just short of Istanbul Airport’s (IST) result of 80.
73 million passengers in 2024. The second-busiest airport in the world was Dubai International Airport (DXB), which ended the year with 92.2 million travelers in 2024.
Other airports in chronological order, apart from the locations already mentioned above, include Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND, 85.9 million), London Heathrow Airport (LHR, 83.8 million), Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL, 77.
8 million), and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG, 76.786 million). Resilience Justin Erbacci, the Director General of ACI World, complimented the world’s largest gateways, which had remained resilient amidst global challenges, adding that these airports are vital arteries of trade, commerce, and connectivity.
With air travel set to continue growing in 2025, the association is ready to support its members, Erbacci added. Reviewing the year, ACI World remarked that in 2024, global passenger growth faced significant uncertainties, including economic and geopolitical landscapes. Furthermore, supply chain challenges and aircraft delivery delays , as well as geopolitical tensions, posed a risk to growth opportunities by altering flight routes, which is the case with Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Nevertheless, the airport association also highlighted that in the future, the threats of tariffs, with the current United States administration having no clear strategy on what to do with the economic tool, has raised concerns about potential disruptions to global trade, which already has indirectly affected international travel demand, the association added. However, so far, the drop in demand has not resulted in significant capacity cuts. Slowing Growth According to ACI World’s estimates from February, global air traffic is forecast to reach 9.
9 billion in 2025, a 4.8% year-on-year (YoY) growth rate. However, the association once again noted that while demand appears to be strong, the pace of growth could slow as markets shift from recovery-driven surges to structural and long-term growth patterns that are more stable over a longer period of time.
Once again, ACI World highlighted “economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, and capacity constraints” as some of the key challenges airports and the general aviation industry will face in 2025, with the factors potentially shaping the industry’s growth trajectory throughout the year. In advanced markets, demand stabilization, aircraft delivery problems, and airport capacity shortages may temper growth. In contrast, emerging markets will benefit from infrastructure investment and rising middle-class travel demand, driving expansion.
“As the industry moves into a new era of growth, the airport industry must focus on financial viability, investment in infrastructure, operational efficiency, and sustainability,” ACI concluded. Could the rankings change during the year? According to data from the aviation analytics company Cirium’s Diio Mi airline planning tool, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta will offer the most one-way seats in 2025, with 64.1 million, with Dubai trailing behind with 61.
2 million. The top three could be rounded off with Tokyo-Haneda, which so far has 55.3 million scheduled seats.
However, these schedules are preliminary and could still change. For example, Frontier Airlines, which had a 3.9% market share in terms of seats in Atlanta in 2024, still has not filed its schedules beyond August, which could still change the situation before the year winds down in December.
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