In February 2025, Luton (the United Kingdom, UK)-based air consultancy firm Official Airline Guide (OAG) released its latest report about ‘World’s Busiest Airport in 2025’. As per the report, Delhi Airport (DEL), named Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in New Delhi (Delhi) ranked at 8th spot, among the top 10 busiest airports globally as of February 2025.
- DEL has registered the highest capacity growth in February 2025 as against the same month in 2024, with the number of seats increasing by 3.4% to 3.6 million seats.
- Also, DEL has improved its ranking by 1 place (9th spot in January 2025) and by 2 places (10th spot in February 2024).
- While, Dubai (the United Arab Emirates, UAE)-based Dubai International Airport (with airport code: DXB) continues to be the busiest airport in the world with 4.8 million seats, marking an increase of 1% in capacity compared to February 2024.
Key Points:
i.The rankings of top 10 world’s busiest airport are calculated using total airline capacity including both domestic and international flights.
- While, the top busiest international airports are determined using international airline capacity only.
ii.The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has estimated that the number of passengers will reach 5.2 billion by 2025, marking an increase of 6.7% compared to 2024. Also, this will mark the 1st time ever that the threshold of 5 billion will be surpassed.
Top 5 Busiest Airports by Seats in 2025:
| Rank | Airport Code | Airport Name | Country | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DXB | Dubai International Airport | The United Arab Emirates (UAE) | 4,782,140 |
| 2 | ATL | Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport | the United States of America (USA) | 4,568,544 |
| 3 | HND | Tokyo International (Haneda) Airport | Japan | 4,222,709 |
| 4 | PVG | Shanghai Pudong International Airport | China | 3,993,388 |
| 5 | LHR | London Heathrow Airport | the United Kingdom (UK) | 3,857,036 |
| 8 | DEL | Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) | India | 3,613,762 |
Key Highlights:
i.The United States of America (USA)-based Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) continues to be world’s 2nd busiest airport globally in 2025, with 4.6 million seats, registering an increase of 2% in terms of capacity over the last year.
ii.Tokyo International Airport (HND) based in Japan, ranked at 3rd spot globally with 4.2 million seats, witnessing a marginal increase of 0.3% in terms of capacity growth, while the comparison of seats per day shows a growth of 4%.
iii.Also, United Kingdom (UK)-based London Heathrow Airport (LHR) has retained its position as Europe’s busiest airport, and ranked at 5th spot globally in 2025 with 3.85 million seats.
iv.The USA-based Dallas / Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), ranked at 6th (up from 7th in 2024), with 3.68 million seats; followed by Istanbul (Turkey)-based Istanbul Airport (IST) ranked at 7th spot globally in 2025 (up from 9th position in 2024), with 3.61 million seats.
v.Among the top 10 world’s busiest airport in 2025, 3 are from China i.e. Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG); Beijing Capital (PEK) and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN).
- OAG’s latest data revealed that PVG saw significant improvement in its ranking, from 6th spot (in 2024) to 4th spot (in 2025) with around 4 million seats.
- Similarly, PEK has improved its ranking by one place, from 11th (in 2024) to 10th (in 2025) with 3.54 million seats.
- However, the ranking of CAN dropped from 4th (in 2024) to 9th (in 2025), with seats declining by 13% to 3.6 million seats.
Top 5 Busiest International Airports by Seats in 2025:
| Rank | Airport Code | Airport Name | Country | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DXB | Dubai International Airport | The United Arab Emirates (UAE) | 4,782,140 |
| 2 | LHR | London Heathrow Airport | The United Kingdom (UK) | 3,592,945 |
| 3 | ICN | Seoul Incheon International Airport | South Korea | 3,386,748 |
| 4 | SIN | Singapore Changi Airport | Singapore | 3,322,219 |
| 5 | AMS | Amsterdam | The Netherlands | 2,922,875 |
i.Top 3 Busiest International Airports by seats in 2025 which is calculated using international frequency are: Dubai International Airport (DXB) ranked 1st with 4.8 million seats; followed by London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and South Koreas-based Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN) ranked at 2nd and 3rd position with 3.6 million seats and 3.4 million seats, respectively.
ii.Japan-based Hong Kong International Airport(HKG) moved up by 1 place in latest rankings, from 7th (in 2024) to 6th (2025) with 2.92 million seats.
- Also, it saw the most significant capacity increase i.e. an increase of 8% compared to 2024 and increase of seats per day of 12%.
About Official Airline Guide (OAG):
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)- Phil Callow
Headquarters- Luton, the United Kingdom (UK)
Established- 1929
