Preliminary figures indicate that with the resumption of international travel, 2022 global passenger traffic reached close to seven billion, representing an increase of 53.5 percent from 2021, or a 73.8 percent recovery from 2019 results.
The top 10 airports for total passenger traffic, representing 10 percent of global traffic, witnessed a gain of 51.7 percent from 2021 amounting to 85.9 percent recovery vis-à-vis their 2019 results.
Holding their positions from 2021, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL, 93.7 million passengers, +23.8 percent) is at the top of the 2022 rankings, followed by Dallas Fort Worth Airport (DFW, 73.4 million passengers, +17.5%), Denver Airport (DEN, 69.3 million passengers, +17.8%), and Chicago O’Hare Airport (ORD, 68.3 million passengers, +26.5%).
From the top 10 airports globally, five are in the US. They all have significant domestic passenger shares (between 75 percent and 95 percent domestic traffic).
Airports reinstated in the upper ranks also include Dubai Airport achieving fifth rank (DXB, 66.1 million passengers, +127 percent), Istanbul Airport reaching seven positions (IST, 64.3 million passengers, +73.8 percent), followed by London Heathrow Airport, Delhi Airport, and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in the eighth, ninth, and 10th spots respectively.
The biggest jump in the top 10 was recorded for London Heathrow (LHR). The airport improved its ranking from the 54th position as borders reopened in March 2022 after two years of closures.
