According to preliminary statistics from ACI (Airports Council International), international air traffic in 2022 continued its post-Covid recovery with a total that nearly reached 7 billion passengers. This represents 53.5% growth over 2021 and a total of 73.8% over 2019 pre-crisis international traffic. 

Five U.S. airports in the top 10

The world's top 10 airports account for 10% of overall traffic, with 51.7% growth over 2021, and a level equivalent to 85.9% of 2019 overall traffic. Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport is the world's leading airport with a total of 93.7 million passengers (+23.8%), followed by Dallas-Fort Worth (73.4 million passengers, +17.5%), Denver (69.3 million passengers, +17.8%) and Chicago O'Hare (68.3 million passengers, +26.5%). This is followed by Dubai Airport (66.1 million passengers, +127%), Los Angeles (65.9 million passengers, +37.3%), Istanbul (64.3 million passengers, +73.8%), London-Heathrow (61.6 million passengers, +217.7%), New Delhi (59.5 million passengers, +60.2%) and Paris CDG (57.5 million passengers, +119.4%). The biggest recovery among the top 10 airports came from London Heathrow. The British airport has risen from 54th place worldwide as of March 2022, after two years of closure. It is also worth noting that five hubs in the world's top ten airports are American. But they benefit from a very high share of domestic traffic (between 75% and 95% of traffic). 

Hong Kong, the world's leading cargo airport

With regard to cargo, cargo volumes in 2022 fell by 6.7% compared to the previous year (-1.7% compared to 2019) to 117 million metric tons. Cargo volumes at the top ten airports accounted for 27% of global volumes, or 30.8 million metric tons. This is down 9.9% from 2021, but still up 4.1% from 2019. This decline can be attributed to the current geopolitical tensions and their disruption to the global trade market and supply chain. With a total of 4.2 million metric tons (-16.4%), Hong Kong Airport was the world's leading airport for cargo in 2022. This was followed by Memphis Airport (4 million metric tons, -9.8%) and Anchorage Airport (3.5 million tons, -4.3%). 

Atlanta, the world's leading airport in aircraft movements

In 2022, there were a total of 89 million aircraft movements worldwide, a 20.4% growth over 2021. This represents 82.5% of the 2019 level of aircraft movements. The world's top ten airports in terms of aircraft movements account for 7% of global traffic (5.7 million movements), representing 11.4% growth over 2021, and a level equivalent to 91.5% of the 2019 movement level. Again, Atlanta had the highest number of aircraft movements in 2022 with a total of 724,145 movements. This is an increase of 2.3% over 2021, but is still down 19.9% from 2019. Of the world's top ten airports by number of movements, there are 9 US airports. Outside the US, only Istanbul is in the top 10 (425,809 movements, +52% compared to 2021 and +29.1% compared to 2019).