The Race For The Top: Is Atlanta The Busiest?

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) has been named the busiest airport in the world, serving 104.6 million travellers in 2023. This is an 11% increase from 2022, with the exception of 2020 when travel was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Atlanta has held this title every year since 1998. Dubai International Airport (DXB) has been ranked as the second busiest airport in the world, with Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in third place.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport: the world's busiest airport

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) has been named the world's busiest airport for over two decades. Since 1998, it has consistently held this title, except in 2020 when travel was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2023, ATL served approximately 104.6 million travellers, a remarkable 11% increase from the previous year. This placed it at the top of the Airports Council International (ACI) rankings, ahead of Dubai International Airport (86,994,365 passengers) and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (third place).

The high passenger numbers at ATL are facilitated by its seven terminals and 192 gates, with 152 domestic and 40 international gates. The airport is also the headquarters for Delta Air Lines and employs around 63,000 workers, contributing significantly to the economy of metropolitan Atlanta.

The airport's popularity is due in part to its efficient operations and convenient location, serving as a major hub for both domestic and international travel. It has also been recognised for its excellence, receiving the 2023 Airport Service Quality Award by the ACI.

To accommodate the high volume of passengers, ATL is undergoing various construction projects. The MARTA station is being renovated, and Concourse D is in the process of a six-year, $1.6 billion expansion that began in 2023. Additionally, federal funding has been allocated to upgrade various facilities, ensuring that Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport remains a world-leading airport.

Dubai International Airport: second busiest airport

Dubai International Airport (DXB) is located in the Al Garhoud district, 2.54 nautical miles (4.7 km) east of Dubai's city centre. It is the world's busiest airport by international passenger traffic as of 2023. In 2023, the airport handled 87 million passengers, 1.81 million tonnes of cargo and registered 416,405 aircraft movements.

Dubai International Airport is the primary international airport serving Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Emirates Airline has its hub airport in Dubai International, with its own terminal 3, which it shares with Flydubai. Emirates handles 51% of all passenger traffic and accounts for approximately 42% of all aircraft movements at the airport. The airport is also the base for low-cost carrier Flydubai, which handles 13% of passenger traffic and 25% of aircraft movements.

In 2014, Dubai International Airport supported over 400,000 jobs and contributed over US$26.7 billion to the economy, representing around 27% of Dubai's GDP and 21% of the employment in Dubai. The airport has three terminals and three concourses, two cargo mega terminals, an airport-free zone, an expo centre with three large exhibition halls, a major aircraft maintenance hub and a flower centre to handle perishable goods. Terminal 3 is the third-largest building in the world by floor space and the largest airport terminal globally.

Dubai International Airport has been ranked as the world's busiest international airport for ten consecutive years. In December 2024, it was named the busiest airport in the world, with 5.3 million seats, a 5% increase compared to the previous month. It overtook Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), which was 51,408 (1%) seats behind.

Dubai International Airport's growth is attributed to its role as a crucial transportation hub, connecting various destinations. In 2024, the airport served 86.9 million passengers, a 31.7% increase from the previous year. It was followed by hubs in London, Amsterdam, Paris and Singapore in the top five rankings for 2023.

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport: third busiest airport

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) is the third-busiest airport in the world by aircraft movements and the second-busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic in 2022 and 2023, according to the Airports Council International. In 2021, it was the sixth-busiest international gateway in the United States and the second-busiest international gateway in Texas.

DFW Airport served 81,764,044 passengers in 2023, a record for the facility, exceeding 80 million passengers for the first time in the airport's 50-year history. This was an increase of more than 11% from 2022. The airport is the primary international airport serving the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and the North Texas region in the US state of Texas. It is the largest hub for American Airlines, which is headquartered near the airport.

DFW Airport has service to 254 destinations (191 domestic and 63 international) from 28 passenger airlines. As of April 2023, it had service to more nonstop destinations than any other airport in North America. Every major city in the contiguous US can be flown to in four hours or less. It is also the largest carbon-neutral airport in the world and the first in North America to achieve this status.

The airport has five terminals and 174 gates, and its unique semi-circular design minimises the distance between a passenger's car and plane, and reduces traffic on main airport roads. The DFW Skylink, a modern bidirectional people mover system, allows passengers to quickly travel between gates inside the secured area of the airport, with an average travel time of seven minutes.

DFW Airport has embarked on a series of expansion projects expected to last until 2028. The first phase will construct Terminal F, a 15-gate concourse costing $1.63 billion, built between 2024 and 2026. The second phase will include the delayed renovations of Terminal C, adding piers to terminals A and C, and upgrading roadways. This $2.72 billion project will add nine additional gates and will be completed in phases by 2028.

Atlanta's airport facilities and construction projects

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) has been the world's busiest airport every year since 1998, except in 2020 when travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted its passenger traffic.

Atlanta's Airport Facilities

The airport has a Central Passenger Terminal Complex (CPTC), which consists of two independent facilities for domestic and international passengers and seven gate concourses. The CPTC will be revamped to enhance the customer experience and boost its aesthetic appeal.

The airport has also recently undergone the following improvements:

• Expansion of Gate F3/F3A to accommodate the Airbus A380, a double-deck, wide-body plane that can seat up to 600 passengers.
• Construction of a new parking deck adjacent to the SkyTrain Gateway station, with 5,700 spaces across seven levels and an elevated pedestrian walkway to the SkyTrain.
• Installation of a new digital board greeting passengers at the top of the escalators as they exit the plane train toward baggage claim.
• Replacement of the oldest fire station with a new LEED-certified facility that can accommodate more firefighters.
• Completion of 22 new Automated Screening Lanes (ASLs) at security checkpoints, speeding up security processing by up to 30%.
• Opening of Service Animal Relief Areas (SARAs) in every concourse, providing facilities for passengers' pets and guide dogs without having to exit the terminal.
• Addition of 102 electric vehicle charging stations as part of ATLNext, aiding in the airport's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Construction Projects

The airport is in the middle of ATL Next, a major expansion and upgrade project worth billions. Some of the upcoming and ongoing construction projects include:

• Construction of a massive seven-deck parking structure in the old South Economy lot, nearly doubling the parking capacity.
• Widening of the D-concourse, a $1.3 billion project.
• Improvements to the plane train running underground between terminals.
• Upgrades to the MARTA train station, which will involve a six-week shutdown.
• Expansion of facilities, with a goal of adding up to 1 million square feet of warehouse space.
• Construction of two new cargo facilities, each spanning 250,000 square feet, as part of the Cargo 2A/2B project.
• Replacement of taxiway and runway pavement, construction of two new end-around taxiways, and the addition of a sixth runway.
• Renovation of hold rooms, with new ceilings, windows, and seating to create a modern, open feel at the gate waiting areas.
• Construction of two giant canopies extending from the North and South sides of the Domestic Terminal to improve the guest experience and traffic flow.

Atlanta's airport: headquarters for Delta Air Lines

Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is the world's busiest airport, serving 104.6 million travellers in 2023. It has held this title every year since 1998, except for 2020 when travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted its passenger traffic.

The airport is the headquarters of Delta Air Lines, the United States' oldest operating airline and the seventh-oldest worldwide. Delta operates over 5,400 flights daily and serves 325 destinations in 52 countries across six continents. It is ranked second among the world's largest airlines by the number of passengers carried, passenger miles flown, and fleet size.

Delta Air Lines was founded in 1925 in Macon, Georgia, before moving to Monroe, Louisiana, in the summer of that year. It was initially called Huff Daland Dusters, Inc. and was the world's first aerial crop-dusting operation. In 1928, the company was incorporated as Delta Air Service, named after the Mississippi Delta region. Passenger operations began in 1929, and by June 1930, service had extended east to Atlanta and west to Fort Worth, Texas.

In 1941, Delta moved its headquarters to Atlanta, where it has remained ever since. The airline has nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its largest in terms of total passengers and number of departures.

The airport itself consists of two separate but massive terminals, including a domestic terminal with concourses A to E, and the Maynard H. Jackson International Terminal in concourse F. "The plane train" runs through all concourses, as do moving walkways, and the airport recommends that passengers arrive two hours before their flight.

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