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World's busiest airports, 2000 to 2025

Atlanta was the world's busiest airport in every year from 2000 to 2025 except 2020, and handled 106.3 million passengers in 2025.

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What the data shows

  • In 2025, Atlanta (ATL) ranks #1 with 106.3M, ahead of Dubai (DXB) (95.2M) and Tokyo Haneda (HND) (91.7M).
  • The top spot changed hands twice: Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN) in 2020 and Atlanta (ATL) in 2021.
  • Biggest climber: Dubai (DXB), from #9 in 2004 to #2 in 2025.
  • Dubai (DXB) and Shanghai Pudong (PVG) weren't on the board in 2000 but are in the top 5 by 2025.

About this chart

Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson has ranked first in total passengers in every year from 2000 to 2025 except 2020, when Guangzhou Baiyun narrowly topped the list during the pandemic. Atlanta's record in this series is 110.5 million passengers in 2019, and it handled 106.3 million in 2025, down from 108.1 million in 2024. Figures are arriving plus departing passengers per calendar year from Airports Council International.

Dubai International moved up to second in 2023 and carried 95.2 million passengers in 2025, ahead of Tokyo Haneda (91.7 million) and Dallas/Fort Worth (85.7 million). Beijing Capital was second every year from 2010 to 2019, peaking at 100.98 million in 2018. Istanbul Airport, which opened in 2019, reached 84.4 million in 2025. Only 13 airports are shown, and a blank means the airport was outside that year's top 50.

The data

Source: Airports Council International (ACI) annual World Airport Traffic figures, as compiled on Wikipedia 'List of busiest airports by passenger traffic' (and its 2000-2009 and 2010-2019 sub-lists). Retrieved November 4, 2026. Total passengers (arriving + departing) per calendar year. Only 13 airports shown (those at or near the top in recent years); blank = not in that year's published top 50. Istanbul Airport opened in 2019 (Atatürk is a separate airport and not shown). Indira Gandhi (Delhi) appears from the year it entered the top 50.

World's busiest airports, Total passengers, millions, ACI annual traffic, 2000-2025, 2000–2025
DateAtlanta (ATL)Dubai (DXB)Tokyo Haneda (HND)Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)Shanghai Pudong (PVG)Chicago O'Hare (ORD)London Heathrow (LHR)Istanbul (IST)Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN)Denver (DEN)Delhi (DEL)Beijing Capital (PEK)Los Angeles (LAX)
200080.2M56.4M60.7M72.1M64.6M38.8M66.4M
200175.9M58.7M55.2M67.5M60.7M36.1M61.6M
200278.9M61.1M52.8M66.5M63.3M35.7M27.2M56.2M
200379.1M63.2M53.2M69.4M63.5M37.5M24.4M55.0M
200483.6M21.7M62.3M59.4M21.1M75.5M67.3M42.4M34.9M60.7M
200585.9M24.8M63.3M59.2M23.7M76.5M67.9M23.6M43.4M41.0M61.5M
200684.9M28.8M65.8M60.2M26.8M77.0M67.5M26.2M47.3M48.7M61.0M
200789.4M34.4M66.8M59.8M29.1M76.2M68.1M31.0M49.9M53.6M61.9M
200890.0M37.4M66.8M57.1M28.2M69.4M67.1M33.4M51.3M23.2M55.9M59.5M
200988.0M40.9M61.9M56.0M32.1M64.2M66.0M37.1M50.2M25.3M65.4M56.5M
201089.3M47.2M64.2M56.9M40.6M66.8M65.9M41.0M52.2M28.5M74.0M59.1M
201192.4M51.0M62.6M57.8M41.5M66.7M69.4M45.0M52.9M34.7M78.7M61.9M
201295.0M57.7M67.8M58.6M44.9M66.8M70.0M48.6M53.2M34.2M81.9M63.7M
201394.4M66.4M68.9M60.4M47.2M66.9M72.4M52.5M52.6M36.7M83.7M66.7M
201496.2M70.5M72.8M63.6M51.7M70.0M73.4M54.8M53.5M39.8M86.1M70.7M
2015101.5M78.0M75.3M65.5M60.1M76.9M75.0M55.2M54.0M46.0M89.9M74.9M
2016104.2M83.7M79.7M65.7M66.0M78.3M75.7M59.7M58.3M55.6M94.4M80.9M
2017103.9M88.2M76.5M67.1M70.0M79.8M78.0M65.9M61.4M63.5M95.8M84.6M
2018107.4M89.2M86.9M69.1M74.0M83.3M80.1M69.7M64.5M69.9M101.0M87.5M
2019110.5M86.4M85.5M75.1M76.2M84.7M80.9M52.0M73.4M69.0M68.5M100.0M88.1M
202042.9M25.8M31.1M39.4M30.5M30.9M22.1M23.3M43.8M33.7M28.5M34.5M28.8M
202175.7M29.1M25.9M62.5M32.2M54.0M41.9M37.0M40.3M58.8M37.1M32.6M48.0M
202293.7M66.1M50.3M73.4M43.3M68.3M61.6M64.3M51.7M69.3M59.5M42.8M65.9M
2023104.7M87.0M78.7M81.8M54.5M73.9M79.2M76.0M63.2M77.8M72.2M52.9M75.1M
2024108.1M92.3M85.9M87.8M76.8M80.0M83.9M80.1M76.4M82.4M77.8M67.4M76.6M
2025106.3M95.2M91.7M85.7M85.0M84.9M84.5M84.4M83.6M82.4M78.2M70.7M73.7M

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Frequently asked questions

What is the busiest airport in the world?

Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson, with 106.3 million passengers in 2025. Dubai International was second at 95.2 million and Tokyo Haneda third at 91.7 million.

How much did air travel fall in 2020?

Atlanta's traffic dropped from 110.5 million passengers in 2019 to 42.9 million in 2020. It recovered to 75.7 million in 2021 and 108.1 million by 2024. Dubai, Haneda and Heathrow all fell by more than half that year too.

Where does this data come from?

Airports Council International (ACI) annual World Airport Traffic figures, as compiled on Wikipedia 'List of busiest airports by passenger traffic' (and its 2000-2009 and 2010-2019 sub-lists). Retrieved November 4, 2026. Total passengers (arriving + departing) per calendar year. Only 13 airports shown (those at or near the top in recent years); blank = not in that year's published top 50. Istanbul Airport opened in 2019 (Atatürk is a separate airport and not shown). Indira Gandhi (Delhi) appears from the year it entered the top 50. You can download the full table as a CSV from this page.

Can I turn this chart into a video?

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