It is exciting to analyze the latest traffic figures and put together the world’s biggest airport ranking every month. As always, we clustered the ranking in three sections: biggest airports by flight volume, biggest airports by passengers, and biggest airports by cargo volume.
World’s Biggest Airports By Flight Volume — in June 2021
Based on flight volume, the biggest airport ranking for June is —almost— a U.S.-only show. 14 of the 15 biggest airports by flight volume are based in the United States of America. Moreover, with Chicago and Atlanta, the United States has the only airports that operate more than 30,000 flights in June. On top of that, Dallas scratched the 30,000 mark and is only 400 flights shy of 30,000.
Compared to 2019, almost every airport handled fewer flights in June 2021. However, anchorage, Salt Lake City, and Long Beach are the exception: Each of the three airports operated more flights than pre-COVID.
| Rank | IATA | Airport | Country | Flights | vs. 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ORD | Chicago O’Hare |  |
31.472 | -21.9% |
| 2 | ATL | Atlanta | |
30.953 | -20.9% |
| 3 | DFW | Dallas/Fort Worth | |
29.595 | -3.6% |
| 4 | DEN | Denver | |
26.409 | -4.9% |
| 5 | CLT | Charlotte | |
23.228 | -3.6% |
| 6 | LAX | Los Angeles | |
23.009 | -22.2% |
| 7 | IAH | Houston | |
17.450 | -12.1% |
| 8 | SEA | Seattle | |
17.377 | -13.6% |
| 9 | LAS | Las Vegas | |
17.331 | -12.6% |
| 10 | PHX | Phoenix | |
17.204 | -0.4% |
| 11 | PVG | Shanghai |  |
16.952 | -20.4% |
| 12 | MIA | Miami | |
16.406 | -1.2% |
| 13 | ANC | Anchorage | |
16.403 | 1.2% |
| 14 | LGB | Long Beach | |
15.367 | 11.7% |
| 15 | SLC | Salt Lake City | |
15.111 | 1.3% |
World’s Biggest Airports By Number of Passengers — in June 2021
When looking at the passenger figures, the picture looks similar to the traffic ranking. However, this time four Chinese airports challenge the U.S. dominance. On another page, it is interesting to see that, although Chicago operated the most flights, it “only” ranks fourth according to passenger numbers. Atlanta, on the other side, operates almost 600,000 flights more than Dallas on position two.
Chengdu, Shanghai, Beijing, and Xi’an represent the Chinese airports among the list of the 15 biggest airports by passengers in June 2021.
| Rank | IATA | Airport | Country | Passengers | vs. 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ATL | Atlanta GA, US (ATL) | |
3.727.163 | -25.0% |
| 2 | DFW | Dallas/Fort Worth TX, US (DFW) | |
3.174.904 | -7.2% |
| 3 | DEN | Denver CO, US (DEN) | |
2.857.674 | -10.5% |
| 4 | ORD | Chicago IL, US (ORD) | |
2.674.431 | -32.3% |
| 5 | LAX | Los Angeles CA, US (LAX) | |
2.443.847 | -39.2% |
| 6 | CTU | Chengdu, CN (CTU) | |
2.094.746 | -5.9% |
| 7 | CLT | Charlotte NC, US (CLT) | |
2.093.605 | -3.0% |
| 8 | MCO | Orlando FL, US (MCO) | |
1.910.929 | -10.7% |
| 9 | LAS | Las Vegas NV, US (LAS) | |
1.905.746 | -14.7% |
| 10 | SEA | Seattle WA, US (SEA) | |
1.903.679 | -22.4% |
| 11 | PHX | Phoenix AZ, US (PHX) | |
1.819.490 | -5.0% |
| 12 | PVG | Shanghai, CN (PVG) | |
1.775.344 | -45.2% |
| 13 | MIA | Miami FL, US (MIA) | |
1.750.691 | -7.6% |
| 14 | XIY | Xi’an, CN (XIY) | |
1.726.563 | -10.0% |
| 15 | PEK | Beijing, CN (PEK) | |
1.646.400 | -59.3% |
World’s Biggest Airports By Cargo Volume — in June 2021
As always, the cargo ranking looks slightly different to passengers and flight volume. First of all, we have airports from countries other than the United States and China on the list. On top of that, with Hong Kong, we have a non-U.S. airport on top of the list. Moreover, with Dubai and Doha, we have to airports from the Middle East.
| Rank | IATA | Airport | Country | Freight Tonnes | vs. 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HKG | Hong Kong SAR, CN (HKG) | |
396.000 | 4.5% |
| 2 | MEM | Memphis TN, US (MEM) | |
374.904 | 7.9% |
| 3 | PVG | Shanghai, CN (PVG) | |
359.739 | 23.0% |
| 4 | ANC | Anchorage AK, US (ANC) | |
307.678 | 29.2% |
| 5 | ICN | Incheon, KR (ICN) |  |
271.513 | 23.2% |
| 6 | SDF | Louisville KY, US (SDF) | |
241.749 | 9.4% |
| 7 | TPE | Taipei, CN (TPE) | |
221.534 | 27.9% |
| 8 | LAX | Los Angeles CA, US (LAX) | |
216.236 | 30.1% |
| 9 | DOH | Doha, QA (DOH) |  |
214.908 | 24.0% |
| 10 | NRT | Tokyo, JP (NRT) |  |
209.170 | 20.2% |
| 11 | ORD | Chicago IL, US (ORD) | |
202.605 | 33.5% |
| 12 | MIA | Miami FL, US (MIA) | |
187.311 | 10.9% |
| 13 | DXB | Dubai, AE (DXB) |  |
186.346 | -3.1% |
| 14 | FRA | Frankfurt, DE (FRA) |  |
183.204 | 10.9% |
| 15 | CDG | Paris, FR (CDG) |  |
165.400 | 3.8% |
Used Data
The shown information is based on ICAO data and internal data sources. Internal data is based on the latest FlightFacts data. FlightFacts is a free-to-use mobile app that lets you discover the operational performance of airlines and airports in real-time. For more information about FlightFacts, click here or visit our download page. FlightsFacts is available for Android and Apple mobiles and is used by more than 10,000 aviation employees and enthusiasts worldwide!
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