The 10 Busiest Airports in the World Right Now
Five of the top six busiest airports are based in the United States.
As we gear up for another busy summer travel season, you're probably booking flights and looking for good deals on hotel rooms. Depending on where you are going, you might not have to encounter too much of the travel chaos that comes with warmer weather. But, it is more likely that you'll be encountering the overall slog of long security lines and packed flights that often comes with the big vacation season. To get a better idea of if you should invest in Global Entry, Clear, or TSA PreCheck, we've got the latest report on the busiest airports in the world, as of April 2024.
OAG Aviation Worldwide compiled scheduling data from airports worldwide to determine which were the busiest. "The rankings are based on scheduled capacity in the current month and compared to the equivalent month in 2023," the report states. "The Top 10 Busiest Airports are calculated using total capacity (domestic and international)."
Unsurprisingly, the Atlanta International Airport came in as the world’s busiest airport once again. The Delta hub had 5,207,792 seats scheduled to fly for April 2024, which is a 3% increase in the number of seats served compared to March 2024. Atlanta International was also the busiest airport in 2023, 2022, and 2021. See the complete ranking for the 10 busiest airports in the world for 2024 below. The ranking includes the number of scheduled seats departing from each airport during April.
1. Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, 5,207,792
2. Dubai International Airport, 4,879,128
3. Tokyo International Airport, 4,460,693
4. London Heathrow International Airport, 4,253,739
5. Dallas Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, 4,110,577
6. Istanbul Airport, 4,007,397
7. Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, 4,004,202
8. Denver International Airport, 3,992,502
9. Chicago O'Hare International Airport, 3,858,108
10. Shanghai Pudong International Airport, 3,851,669
Chicago added 7% more seats between March and April, and Istanbul added 10% more seats—it's not too surprising that airports are expanding their services. As we've similarly seen from airlines, summer is when expanded service thrives.
Are you planning on traveling through any of these major airports this year?
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