The busiest global airports in the world for 2024 were spread out across a wide geographic area: two in Europe, three in Asia, four in North America, and one in the Middle East. Let’s look at the world’s ten busiest airports using one-way airline capacity (domestic and international), as reported by OAG.
10: Chicago O’Hare International
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Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) was built in 1944 and was formerly called Orchard Field before being renamed in 1949 after Edward H “Butch” O’Hare. The airport saw 8% rise in the number of seats, as there were 46,992,360 seats in 2024.
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The Terminal Area Forecast from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) projected 41.5 million emplacements at O’Hare for 2024 and 44.1 million for 2025, compared to 42.2 million emplacements recorded in 2019.
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In 2019, O’Hare was the sixth busiest in the world, while dropping to the ninth busiest in 2023.
Image: National Aeronautics and Space Administration |Wikimedia Commons
Image : Tom Harpel |Wikimedia Commons
The tunnel between Concourse B and C in Terminal 1 at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport – Operated by United Airlines. The tunnel features a 744-foot-long kinetic neon sculpture titled, “The Sky’s the Limit” (1987), by Michael Hayden.
9: Shanghai Pudong International
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Shanghai-Hongqiao, the city’s other major airport, mostly handles domestic and regional flights in East Asia, whereas Pudong Airport serves both international and a lesser number of domestic aircraft. Shanghai Pudong was the fifteenth-busiest airport in 2023.
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Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport served as Shanghai’s sole major airport until Pudong International Airport was built. The surrounding metropolitan area was growing substantially in the 1990s, making it difficult for Hongqiao Airport to expand to meet the increasing demand. Instead, it was assumed that all foreign flights had to be searched for.
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With 48,503,741 seats, Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) comes in at number nine, with the fastest growth rate of any of the top ten, at 29%.
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On December 29, 2015, work began on a new satellite concourse building that will house more gates and terminal space. It was formally inaugurated in September 2019. In 2019, it was the eighth busiest airport in the world.
8. Istanbul
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The largest of the two international airports servicing Istanbul, Turkey, is Istanbul Airport (IATA: IST, ICAO: LTFM).In 2023, it handled over 76 million passengers, ranking as the second-busiest airport in Europe.
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With 48,517,967 seats overall, Istanbul Airport (IST) is ranked eighth among the busiest airports in 2024, up 5% [and the seventh busiest] from 2023.
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IST offers its customers service such as:
- e-passport gates
- bespoke mobile apps
- robot assistants
Image: Fatih Renkligil | Wikimedia Commons
Istanbul Airport Museum, which is located in the International Departures Area, is the world’s largest airport museum and showcases 316 Turkish artifacts from various historical eras.
7. Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport
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Serving Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, is Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (IATA: CAN, ICAO: ZGGG).The IATA code is based on Guangzhou’s ancient romanisation Canton, while the airport codes were carried over from the previous Baiyun Airport. In 2019, the airport was outside the list of ten busiest airports in the world.
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The Main Terminal, Area A, and Area B are the three parts of Terminal 1. The Main Terminal houses the majority of retail establishments and all check-in counters.The airport features four 3,800-, 3,800-, 3,600-, and 3,400-meter runways. It has 173 aircraft parking spaces for both passengers and cargo, and it occupies 3,558 acres.
Image: Jacky Cheung | Wikimedia Commons
The boarding gates, security checkpoints, border control, customs and quarantine, baggage reclaim, and related services are located in the two concourses, designated Area A and Area B, which are under the jurisdiction of separate security checkpoints.
Image: Jacky Cheung | Wikimedia Commons
With an area of more than 808,700 square meters, Terminal 2 is one of the biggest airport terminal facilities in the world. It opened on April 26, 2018.
Image: Jacky Cheung |Wikimedia Commons
With 48,852,986 seats, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) is in seventh place and has seen a significant 12% gain comapred to 2023, when it was the tenth-busiest in the world.
6: Denver International Airport
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Denver International Airport (IATA: DEN, ICAO: KDEN, FAA LID: DEN), also known as DIA by locals, is an international airport in the Western United States that primarily serves the wider Front Range Urban Corridor and metropolitan Denver, Colorado. The airport had 49,218,244 seats in 2024, a 5% increase from 2023.
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Whil marijuana is legal in Colorado, it is illegal for anyone to travel through DEN with marijuana.
Denver International Airport suffused with snow
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DEN features three middle concourses that are far apart from one another, as well as a single terminal called the Jeppesen Terminal, which is named after aviation safety pioneer Elrey Borge Jeppesen.
5: Dallas Dallas/Fort Worth International
Image: Tom Walsh
Serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and the North Texas area, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (IATA: DFW, ICAO: KDFW, FAA LID: DFW) is the main international airport in the U.S. state of Texas. With 51,516,707 seats, DFW is the fifth-busiest airport.
Image: Qulintin Soloviev
Compared to 2023, DFW saw a 7% rise in the total number of seats. Compared to 2019, the numbers for 2024 were 18% higher. In 2019, the airport was outside the list of the ten busiest airports in the world.
4: London Heathrow
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Much like 2023, the main and biggest international airport serving London, the Heathrow Airport (IATA: LHR, ICAO: EGLL) was the fourth-busiest airport in 2024 as well. British Airways offers the highest number of seats from this airport.
London Heathrow Terminal 2 Departures Area
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The Great West Aerodrome, a little airstrip southeast of the hamlet of Heathrow, where the airport gets its name, was the original location of Heathrow Airport in 1929. Back then, the area was made up of orchards, market gardens, and farms. There was also a “Heathrow Farm” near the location of the present Terminal 2, as well as a “Heathrow Hall” and a “Heathrow House.”
Image:Warren Rohner
In 2024, Heathrow offered 51,553,190 seats for passengers. This figure was 4% and 3% more than the figures in 2023 and 2019, respectively.
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The longest non-stop route from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is a seventeen-hour flight to Perth Airport (PER) conducted by Qantas.
3: Tokyo International (Haneda)
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The busiest of the two international airports servicing the Greater Tokyo Area is Haneda Airport (IATA: HND, ICAO: RJTT), often known as Tokyo-Haneda. It is also the third busiest in the world.
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With 55,204,580 seats, Tokyo Haneda International Airport (HND) comes in third place, up 5% from the year before. However, its rankings in the year 2023 and 2019 were the same.
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The waiting area at Tokyo International Airport is contemporary, roomy, and cosy, with lots of seats, free Wi-Fi, shops, restaurants, and charging stations. The route between Tokyo Haneda Airport and Los Angeles is the busiest US-Japan route overall.
2: Dubai International
Image:Konstantin von Wedelstaedt
As of 2023, the main international airport servicing Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Dubai International Airport (IATA: DXB, ICAO: OMDB) was the second busiest airport in the world. The same was true of 2024. DXB offered 60,236,220 seats last year, a growth of 7% comapred to the year before.
Image : Andy Mabbett
In 2019, the airport was the fourth busiest in the world. The number of seats offered in 2024 are 12% higher than those in 2019.
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Work on a 2,800-meter (9,200-foot) asphalt runway began in May 1963. Along with various additional additions to the terminal building, hangars were constructed, airport and navigational aids were built, and the new runway, along with the existing sand runway and taxiway, opened in May 1965.
1: Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International
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Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (IATA: ATL, ICAO: KATL, FAA LID: ATL), which is ten miles from Downtown Atlanta was the busiest airport in 2019, 2023, and 2024.
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The current midfield terminal complex started in 1977 under Mayor Maynard Jackson’s administration in response to the substantial rise in aviation traffic that exceeded the 1961 terminal’s capacity.
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Compared to 2019, the number of seats offered in ATL was down 1%.
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There was a 2% rise in the number of seats offered in ATL compared to 2023. All in all, ATL offered 62,743,665 seats for travelers in 2024.