Dubai International Airport (DXB), which held top spot as world’s busiest international airport in 2023 and 2019, has retained the title with 60.2 million seats in 2024, according OAG, the UK-headquartered global travel data provider.
DXB was followed by London Heathrow Airport (LHR), whose airline capacity has increased by 4% compared with 2023, took second place with 48.4 million seats in 2024, OAG said.
Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN) moved up four places to be the third busiest international airport with 41.6 million seats. ICN saw capacity grow by 24% in 2024 compared to 2023, but fell slightly behind 2019 by 2%.
Singapore’s Changi International airport was ranked fourth busiest international airport followed by Amsterdam (fifth), Istanbul (sixth), Paris (seventh), Frankfurt International (eighth), Hong Kong International (ninth) and Hamad International Airport (tenth) respectively.
Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) had the biggest increase in capacity among the Top 10 busiest international airports in 2024 compared with 2023, growing by 40%, making it the ninth busiest airport. However, HKG is still 23% behind 2019 levels.
Compared with 2019, Istanbul Airport (IST) saw the largest growth in airline capacity, increasing by 20% to 38.6 million seats and taking it to sixth place, the OAG data showed.
Busiest Airports
Meanwhile, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) with 62.7 million seats, was the Busiest Airport in 2024. It held the top spot in 2023 and 2019. ATL’s airline capacity at ATL increased by 2% compared to 2023, but was below 2019 levels by 1%.
The second busiest airport globally was Dubai International Airport (DXB) with 60.2 million seats. DXB’s airline capacity grew significantly since 2023 with seats increasing by 7% y-o-y and its capacity was up 12% compared to 2019.
In third place was Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) with 55.2 million seats, a capacity increase of 5% compared to 2023.
The geographic distribution of the busiest airports was broad – four based in North America, three in Asia, two in Europe and one in the Middle East.
In 2024, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) ranked as the fifth busiest airport, while Denver International Airport (DEN) held sixth position.
Both airports surpassed their 2019 performance, with capacity increases of 18% at DFW and 24% at DEN, marking the highest growth among the top ten airports. Additionally, compared with 2023, DFW and DEN expanded their capacity by 7% and 5% more seats, respectively.
Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) saw the most rapid growth among the top ten busiest airports, with a 29% increase in capacity compared with 2023. This was largely due to China’s ongoing air travel recovery following the global pandemic. As a result, PVG moved from the 15th busiest global airport in 2023 to the ninth busiest in 2024.
In comparison to 2019, the Busiest Global Airports of 2024 included four new additions and they were; DFW which was in fifth place in 2024 and 13th in 2019, DEN, which was ranked sixth in 2024 and 21st in 2019, Guangzhou Baiyun Airport (CAN) which was in seventh place in 2024 and ranked 12th in 2019, and Istanbul Airport (IST) which was in eighth place in 2024 and 16th in 2019, OAG data said.
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