For the 21st consecutive year, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was ranked the busiest passenger airport in the world.
According to Airports Council International’s preliminary world traffic report, ATL handled more than 107 million passengers in 2018, a 3.3 percent increase over the previous year.
Dubai International Airport retained the top spot for international travel, welcoming 88.8 million passengers in 2018, a 1.3 percent rise compared with 2017.
Global air travel continued to expand, with total passenger traffic increasing by about 6 percent last year to reach 8.8 billion passengers. The top 20 busiest airports worldwide collectively grew traffic by 4.7 percent and accounted for more than 1.5 billion passengers.
“It is heartening to see that global passenger traffic growth has remained resilient in the face of an increasingly tense and challenging geopolitical climate,” said Angela Gittens, ACI’s world director general.
Gittens added that lower travel costs in many markets and a growing middle class in emerging economies have helped sustain strong passenger growth.