With airports hitting the peak summer travel season and many starting to plan their first big trips year after year, airports are undoubtedly a busy place right now.
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In the past year, many people have started jumping into the travel industry again, some countries and cities have relaxed restrictions and others have had lockdowns.
Regardless, travel in 2021 has grown exponentially since the days of 2020 when the epidemic made it almost impossible or extremely difficult to fly domestically and internationally.
But a new report shows that the epidemic has not slowed Americans’ travel to and from the country’s airports.
In fact, according to a search by Airports Council International (ACI) World, the US has claimed 8 of the top 10 spots for the world’s busiest airports by 2021.
The report found that an estimated 4.5 billion passengers flew worldwide in 2021, an increase of about 25% from 2020, and noted that passenger traffic to and from the top 10 busiest airports accounted for 463 million passengers (about 10% of total global traffic in 2021 alone). 52% shy.)
Related: Vehicles Abandoned, Hours Long Security Lines Because Major US Airports Jumped Fuel Shortage
The number one busiest airport in the world was Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, Georgia, which saw 75.7 million passengers at its gate in 2021, 76% more than the year before but about 31.5% less in 2019 and pre-epidemic days.
ATL is followed by DFW (Dallas / Fort Worth International Airport) which saw about 62.5 million world passengers in 2021 and then DEN (Denver International Airport) with about 59 million world passengers.
Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport are in the top 5, with the first international airports cut into slots 8 and 9, both located in China (Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, respectively).
Among the top 10, Orlando International Airport grew the highest percentage year-over-year, with 86.7% increase worldwide from 2020 to 2021.
“ACI World tells the story of an encouraging trend in passenger traffic ranking recovery, with most frequently busiest airports pre-COVID-19 topping the list,” ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira explained in the report. “While we are aware that the recovery could face multiple headwinds, the momentum created by the resumption plans by countries could increase in travel in the second half of 2022.
Related: JetBlue announces major shifts for summer after hundreds of flights canceled
The United States operates about one-third of all airports worldwide, more than any other country, with a total of about 15,000 airports.
Still, U.S. airports are not completely clean and business is back to normal.
This week, JetBlue announced it would reduce summer flights and capacity due to staff shortages in an effort to prevent cancellations.
Hundreds of flights were canceled earlier this month alone due to catastrophic weather that left many unable to travel to and from Northeast and Florida, leaving many customers dissatisfied and stuck.
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport also caught fire recently when low-fuel supplies mixed with massive flows of passengers left customers on the safety line for hours, with many abandoning cars backed up on the airport ramp in an attempt to catch them inside. Flight
Still, the outlook looks optimistic.
“We have reached the deepest point of the crisis,” said Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), in October. Reuters. “While serious problems remain, recovery is on the way.”
Passenger revenue is expected to hit 378 billion this year, an increase of 67% year-over-year.
