According to preliminary statistics from ACI (Airports Council International), international air traffic continued its post-Covid recovery in 2022 with a total that almost reached 7 billion passengers. This represents a growth of 53.5% compared to 2021 and a total of 73.8% compared to the pre-crisis international traffic of 2019.
Five US airports in the top 10
The top ten airports in the world represent 10% of global traffic, with a growth of 51.7% compared to 2021, and a level equivalent to 85.9% of global traffic in 2019. Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta is the first airport in the world with a total of 93.7 million passengers (+23.8%), followed by Dallas-Fort Worth (73.4 million passengers, +17.5%), Denver (69.3 million passengers, +17.8%) and Chicago O’Hare (68.3 million passengers, +26.5%). This is followed by Dubai airport (66.1 million passengers, +127%), Los Angeles (65.9 million passengers, +37.3%), Istanbul (64.3 million passengers, +73.8 %), London-Heathrow (61.6 million passengers, +217.7%), New Delhi (59.5 million passengers, +60.2%) and Paris CDG (57.5 million passengers, +119 .4%). The biggest recovery of the top 10 airports came from London-Heathrow. The British airport rose from 54th place in the world from March 2022, following two years of closure. It should also be noted that five platforms in the world’s top ten airports are American. But they enjoy a very high share of domestic traffic (between 75% and 95% of traffic).
Hong Kong, the world’s largest cargo airport
Regarding cargo, freight volumes decreased in 2022 by 6.7% compared to the previous year (-1.7% compared to 2019) to reach 117 million metric tons. Cargo volumes from the top ten airports accounted for 27% of global volumes, or 30.8 million metric tons. This figure is down 9.9% compared to 2021, but remains up 4.1% compared to 2019. This drop can be attributed to the current geopolitical tensions and their disruptions in the global trade market and the chain. supply. With a total of 4.2 million metric tons (-16.4%), Hong Kong airport was the world’s leading cargo airport in 2022. Next come Memphis Airport (4 million metric tons, -9.8%) and Anchorage Airport (3.5 million tons, -4.3%).
Atlanta, the world’s leading airport in terms of aircraft movements
In 2022, there were a total of 89 million aircraft movements worldwide, a growth of 20.4% compared to 2021. This represents 82.5% of the level of aircraft movements of 2019. The world’s top ten airports in terms of aircraft movements represent 7% of global traffic (5.7 million movements), i.e. growth of 11.4% compared to 2021, and a level equivalent to 91.5% of the number of movements in 2019. Again, Atlanta had the highest number of aircraft movements in 2022 with a total of 724,145 movements. This is an increase of 2.3% compared to 2021, but it is still down 19.9% compared to 2019. Of the world’s top ten airports in terms of number of movements, we find 9 US airports. Outside the US, only Istanbul is in the top 10 (425,809 movements, +52% compared to 2021 and +29.1% compared to 2019).
