Today's Edition
A. SREENIVASA REDDY (ABU DHABI)
A total of 8.7 billion passengers travelled through the world’s airports in 2023, representing an increase of 30.6% over 2022, according to the latest data released by the Airports Council International (ACI) World.
Dubai International Airport (DXB) continued to be the world’s second-busiest airport after Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in the US, the ACI World’s annual ranking of airports shows.
The resurgence in air traffic is propelled by the “anticipated benefits from the reopening of the Asian markets and a growing inclination towards travel despite macroeconomic conditions”, says the ACI World in the report accompanying its annual World Airport Traffic Dataset.
ACI World collects airport traffic data every year through its global network of airport operator members, investors, and aviation stakeholders. The dataset reveals airport passenger, cargo, and aircraft movement rankings for over 2,700 airports across more than 185 countries and territories.
“The findings indicate that the demand for air travel is as strong as ever,” says ACI World Director General and CEO Luis Felipe de Oliveira and attributes the rise in traffic to surge in international travel.
“International passenger traffic has now almost fully recovered from the pandemic. China’s reopening fuelled much of 2023’s strong growth.”
The latest ACI World figures show that the world airports reached 94.3% of pre-pandemic traffic in 2019.
The organisation also released the list of the 20 busiest airports In the world.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is at the top of the 2023 rankings, followed by Dubai International Airport and Dallas-Forth Worth.
After reaching the top of the rankings in 2020, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport went down to 58th position in 2022, but regained 12th spot in 2023.
Notably, eight of the top 20 busiest airports are in the US, largely driven by significant domestic passenger shares (ranging from 70% to 95% domestic traffic).
South Korea’s Incheon International Airport recorded the most significant jump in the rankings, rising from 99th in 2022 to 20th in 2023.
Dubai Airport, the only Middle Eastern representative in the top 20, primarily caters to international passengers.
It serves as a major regional travel hub, facilitating connections for passengers from the Indian subcontinent traveling to other destinations.
Dubai recorded 86.9 million passengers compared to Atlanta’s 101 million, the world’s busiest airport.
The airports are an organic part of the economic growth and serve the societies in which they are located.
“Whatever position in the rankings an airport occupies, each is integral to the communities it serves. Airports are resilient, adaptable and support social and economic development,” says Oliveira.
Air cargo sector presents a contrasting picture with volumes decreasing by 1.8% from the last year, finishing close to 115 million tonnes in 2023. This represents a decline of 4.9% when compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019.
“Air cargo has experienced a slight year-over-year decrease,” Oliveira acknowledges, “but it’s important to remember that the sector is recalibrating from the record highs of recent years”.
However, experts attribute the decline in air cargo volume to the ongoing geopolitical tensions and disruptions to global trade and supply chains.
Hong Kong remained in the top spot, followed by Memphis and Shanghai Pudong in the list of world’s busiest cargo airports.
Dubai figures at the 17th position, a significant decline from pre-pandemic times. The decline is attributed to diversion of the air cargo traffic to the new Al Maktoum International Airport.
This means that the cargo traffic is being distributed between the two airports leading to the fall in individual numbers.
In terms of air traffic movements, 2023 registered a rise of 12.6% from 2022, recording a total 96 million.
The top 20 airports, representing close to 11% of global traffic (10.5 million movements), witnessed a gain of 12.2% from their 2022 results.
Atlanta airport ranked at the top with 776,000 movements, representing a recovery of 85.8% from its 2019 results. A total of 11 airports from the top 20 rankings are in the US.
The latest ACI World figures show that the world airports reached 94.3% of pre-pandemic traffic in 2019.
