The world’s busiest airports 2017

So which airport is the busiest in the world? Perhaps surprisingly, the busiest airport is not in Asia, but in the US in Atlanta, Georgia – the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The city is within a two-hour flight of 80% of the United States population of more than 300 million people.

But it’s reign at the top of the world chart may not last long as it was the only airport in the top 20 to see its traffic drop over the past 12 months, but the drop wasn’t even 1%. Atlanta and Beijing airports have been number one and two since 2010.

But Asia has eight of the world’s 20 busiest airports, as reported by Airports Council International.

Worldwide passenger traffic increased 6.6% last year, while international passenger numbers were up 8.4%.

How about cargo traffic? Worldwide cargo traffic, including mail, rose nearly 8%. The world’s largest air cargo hub remains Hong Kong. Memphis, Tennessee was second and Shanghai, China third.

Here’s the list of the world’s 20 busiest airports…

1. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (Georgia) – 104 million passengers

2. Beijing Capital International Airport (China) – 96 million

3. Dubai International Airport (United Arab Emirates) – 88 million

4. Tokyo Haneda International Airport (Japan) – 85 million

5. Los Angeles International Airport (California) – 84.6 million

6. Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (Illinois) – 80 million

7. London Heathrow Airport (United Kingdom) – 78 million

8. Hong Kong International Airport (China) – 73 million

9. Shanghai Pudong International Airport (China) – 70 million

10. Aéroport de Paris-Charles de Gaulle (France) – 69 million

11. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (Netherlands) – 68.5 million

12. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (Texas) – 67 million

13. Guangzhou Bai Yun International Airport (China) – 66 million

14. Frankfurt Am Main Airport (Germany) – 64.5 million

15. Atatürk International Airport (Turkey) – 64 million

16. Indira Gandhi International Airport (India) – 63.5 million

17. Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (Indonesia) – 63 million

18. Singapore Changi Airport (Singapore) – 62.22 million

19. Incheon International Airport (South Korea) – 62.16 million