Montreal-based Airports Council International (ACI) has published the top 10 busiest airports worldwide for 2021 showing encouraging signs of traffic recovery as many of the previous busiest airports re-joined the top ranks.
Total global passengers in 2021 were estimated to be close to 4.5bn, representing an increase of almost 25% from 2020, or a drop of more than 50% from 2019 results.
“The ACI World passenger traffic rankings tell the story of an encouraging trend of recovery, with most of the recurrent busiest airports pre-COVID-19 back at the top,” ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira said. “Although we are cautious that recovery could face multiple headwinds, the momentum created by reopening plans by countries could lead to an uptick in travel in the second half of 2022.
Ranked by international passengers, Dubai ranked number one at 29.1m passengers, down 66.3% from 2019 levels, followed by Istanbul (26.4m, -33%), Amsterdam (25.5m, -64%), Frankfurt (22.7m, -64%) and Paris (22.6m, -64%).
