U.S. tops rankings for busiest airports in 2021

As published by Airports Council International (ACI) World, the total global airport passenger traffic in 2021 is estimated to be close to 4.5 billion, representing an increase of almost 25% from 2020, or a drop of more than 50% from 2019 results.

Eight of the top 10 airports for passenger traffic in the 2021 rankings compiled by ACI are in the United States and the two remaining are in China. All top 10 airports have a significant share of domestic traffic, the traffic segment that has been leading global recovery.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL, 75.7 million passengers, +76.4%) is back at the top of 2021 rankings, followed by Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW, 62.5 million passengers, +58.7%), and Denver International Airport (DEN, 58.8 million passengers, +74.4%).

The biggest improvement recorded was from Orlando International Airport (MCO, 40.4 million passengers, +86.7%) that jumped from the 27th position in 2020 to the seventh spot in 2021.