In April 2025, Montreal (Canada)-based Airports Council International (ACI) World released its Annual Rankings of the World’s busiest Airports 2024 . As per the report, Delhi Airport (DEL), named Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in New Delhi (Delhi) ranked at 9th spot, among the world’s top 10 busiest airports in 2024 in ‘passenger’ category. Over the years, Delhi airport has improved its ranking from 10th (in 2023), 13th (2021) and 17th (2019).
- IGIA saw passenger traffic of 77 million in 2024, marking an increase of 7.8% compared to 2023 and 13.6% compared to 2019.
- While, the United States of America, USA-based Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) continues to be the world’s busiest airport, handling over 108 million passengers traffic in 2024.
- It is followed by Dubai (the United Arab Emirates, UAE)-based Dubai International Airport (DXB) and USA-based Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) ranked at 2nd and 3rd position, respectively.
ACI World’s Report:
i.The findings of the report is based on reports from more than 2,700 airports worldwide and provides a comprehensive overview about global air traffic patterns.
ii.As per ACI World latest preliminary report, global passenger traffic reached nearly 9.5 billion in 2024, representing an increase of 9% over 2023 and an increase of 3.8% compared to pre-pandemic levels (2019).
iii.The report has projected that global passenger traffic is expected to reach 9.9 billion in 2025, with a 4.8% Year-over-Year (Y-o-Y) growth rate.
World’s Top 5 Busiest Airports in 2024:
| Passenger Category | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Airport Code | Airport Name | Country | Passenger Traffic |
| 1 | ATL | Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport | The United States of America (USA) | 108,067,766 |
| 2 | DXB | Dubai International Airport | The United Arab Emirates (UAE) | 92,331,506 |
| 3 | DFW | Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport | USA | 87,817,864 |
| 4 | HND | Tokyo International (Haneda) Airport | Japan | 85,900,617 |
| 5 | LHR | London Heathrow Airport | The United Kingdom (UK) | 83,884,572 |
| 9 | DEL | Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) | India | 77,820,834 |
Key Highlights:
i.Share of world’s top 10 busiest airports: As per the report, the world’s top 10 busiest airports accounting for 9% of the total global traffic, (handling 855 million passengers in 2024), reflecting an 8.8% increase over 2023 and 8.4% increase compared to 2019.
ii.Biggest Jump in rankings: Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) in China recorded the biggest jump in the top 10 rankings, from 21st spot (in 2023) to 10th spot (in 2024), registering significant increase of 41% in passenger traffic (over 76 million) compared to 2023.
iii.International passenger category: Dubai International Airport (DXD) and London Heathrow International Airport (LHR) retained their rankings as world’s busiest airports in 2024 in ‘international passenger category’, same as in 2023 i.e. ranked at 1st spot and 2nd position, respectively.
- While, South Korea-based Incheon International Airport (ICN)registered the sharpest increase among the top 10 rankings, marking an increase of 26.7% in international passenger traffic, thus improving its rank from 7th (2023) to 3rd (2024).
- Singapore Changi International Airport in Singapore (SIN) and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) in the Netherlands secured 4th and 5th spots, respectively.
iv.Air Cargo Volumes: As per the report, air cargo volumes have increased by 8.4% Y-o-Y (+3.9% versus 2019), to more than 124 million metric tonnes (MMT) in 2024.
- This increase in global cargo volumes is mainly due to robust e-commerce demand, maritime shipping disruption, and declines in jet fuel prices.
- Top 3 Airports: Hong Kong International Airport in China (1st), Shanghai Pudong International Airport (2nd) and Memphis International Airport (3rd).
v.Aircraft Movements: The report has estimated that global aircraft movements were 100 million in 2024, showing an increase of 4.3% compared to 2023.
- Also, the top 10 airports accounting over 6% of the global traffic (6.4 million movements), saw an increase of 6.5% from their 2023 results or a marginal increase of 0.4% vis-à-vis their 2019 results (6.3 million).
- Top 3 Airports: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (1st), Chicago O’Hare International Airport in USA (2nd) and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (3rd).
About Airports Council International (ACI):
Director General (DG)- Justin Erbacci
Headquarters- Montreal, Canada
Established– 1991
Members- 830 members (as of January 2025)
