✈️ US dominates World's Busiest Airports list for second year running

[Devil's Advocate]

Atlanta remains the busiest airport in the world at 93.7 million passengers with 2nd place Dallas and 3rd place Denver already back to their pre-pandemic levels.

1. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, Georgia (ATL): 93.7 million passengers; up 23.8% from 2021

2. Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas (DFW): 73.4 million passengers; up 17.5% from 2021

3. Denver, Colorado (DEN): 69.3 million passengers; up 17.8% from 2021

4. Chicago O’Hare, Illinois (ORD): 68.3 million passengers; up 26.5% from 2021

5. Dubai, United Arab Emirates (DXB): 66.1 million passengers; up 127% from 2021

6. Los Angeles, California (LAX): 65.9 million passengers; up 37.3% from 2021

Link: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/worlds-busiest-airports-2022-aci

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

After travelling (ORD & DEN plus GJO) at the end of last week and over the weekend I can easily believe that we are back to the 'before times' in passenger numbers. Airports were packed Sunday. All the parking lots at ORD were full!!

 

[Bob Dylan]

After travelling (ORD & DEN plus GJO) at the end of last week and over the weekend I can easily believe that we are back to the 'before times' in passenger numbers. Airports were packed Sunday. All the parking lots at ORD were full!!

And with this being Easter Week, look for them to be absolutely Packed for the next Few Days!

 

[Cal]

Very surprised to see Denver there. How many international flights does it have? And i’d also like to see takeoff numbers for each of these airports as this ignores cargo flights

 

[Bob Dylan]

If you combine the 3 Major New York Airports, I' d be suprised if they didn't at least make the Top 3!!???

 

[jiml]

If you combine the 3 Major New York Airports, I' d be suprised if they didn't at least make the Top 3!!???

It does make you wonder if NYC had only one major.

 

[Bob Dylan]

It does make you wonder if NYC had only one major.

Yep, like Pearson is for Toronto!

 

[DavidSh]

I don't see the 2022 data aggregated for the New York area airports (JFK, EWR, LGA, SWF), but the Port Authority of NY & NJ published the 2021 data, where the total was just slightly below Atlanta, and significantly above Dallas. It's probably still above Dallas for 2022, but whether Atlanta is higher or NYC for 2022 is hard to call.

Then you should also try to aggregate Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, and London City airports for a fair comparison.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

Very surprised to see Denver there. How many international flights does it have? And i’d also like to see takeoff numbers for each of these airports as this ignores cargo flights

I was surprised when I was there - lots of Frankfurt flights on UAL.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I don't see the 2022 data aggregated for the New York area airports (JFK, EWR, LGA, SWF), but the Port Authority of NY & NJ published the 2021 data, where the total was just slightly below Atlanta, and significantly above Dallas. It's probably still above Dallas for 2022, but whether Atlanta is higher or NYC for 2022 is hard to call. Then you should also try to aggregate Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, and London City airports for a fair comparison.

NYC's claim to fame is "most O&D traffic." Heathrow's claim is "most international travelers" but it's unclear how this was measured/confirmed. Gatwick is "busiest single runway" and so on. They all find an angle but Atlanta's run of 22 years at the top is as solid as they come. It's plausible that Guangzhou Baiyun briefly exceeded ATL before falling off a cliff under "zero Covid."

 

[SteveSFL]

I traveled from ATL last Wednesday and the lines at TSA security were terrible (even with PreCheck).

They had a new device I’ve not seen before where you insert your identification and then stare into a camera screen to be photographed. I guess it does some sort of facial comparison and eventually gives an OK indicator to the operator to let you pass.

I watched as one operator used that device and the other did the old fashioned scan the boarding pass and look at your ID method. She processed three passengers for every one that the new automated thing did.

And don’t even get me started on their automatic-every-bag-in-a-bin-conveyor luggage scanning system. It took three times as long as the old throw your bag on the belt system used elsewhere!

 

[west point]

Wow! Cannot believe how down CHI ORD has dropped. Used to be ATL & ORD would exchange 1st place year to year.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

They had a new device I’ve not seen before where you insert your identification and then stare into a camera screen to be photographed. I guess it does some sort of facial comparison and eventually gives an OK indicator to the operator to let you pass.

I'm against it for privacy reasons but biometric recognition became part of international travel more than decade ago.

And don’t even get me started on their automatic-every-bag-in-a-bin-conveyor luggage scanning system. It took three times as long as the old throw your bag on the belt system used elsewhere!

What is this about and who's managing it? I'm okay with DL's regional hubs at LAX & SLC but I generally avoid the ATL super hub.

 

[acelafan]

I live in Atlanta so I'm stuck with Delta and the ATL airport. I feel like Delta service overall is pretty good, but of course they have their ups and downs. I also feel like the airport runs pretty smoothly, unlike most city services around here. The amount of passengers it processes and the ability to take transit right to the front door is a big plus.

I don't have a problem with the luggage scanning devices. You just stick your belongings into one of those large bins and the system sucks it over to the conveyor belt. Maybe I have just had good luck with it over the years. Boston had a similar system, or has a similar system, and the last time I used it, it took 20 minutes to get through the scanner. It was pretty bad. Maybe they were just having a bad day up there.

Agree that if you don't have PreCheck or CLEAR the regular lines for security are ridiculously long. Even with long PreCheck or CLEAR lines you still get through pretty quickly.

 

[jis]

They had a new device I’ve not seen before where you insert your identification and then stare into a camera screen to be photographed. I guess it does some sort of facial comparison and eventually gives an OK indicator to the operator to let you pass.

Something has changed of late in the new Global Entry Terminals. The last time I entered at IAD at their high tech C&I facility in the main terminal building, returning from ATH via LHR in early March, As soon as I looked at the screen while fumbling for my Passport to enter into its designated slot, I saw my photo on the screen, followed by a welcome message and instructions to proceed to exit! So somewhat confused I followed the path towards exit. On the way there was an Agent station where a CBP officer asked me if I had anything to declare to which I responded in the negative. Upon which he waved me through. I am not sure whether the GE terminal recognized me or what exactly happened. But the bottom line is that my Passport never left my pocket and I was in the US through some sort of facial recognition I surmise.

Then I recalled that something similar had happened at ORD T5 back in August last year when I arrived there from Delhi too.

I will see what happens in IAH when I return from LHR in May.

 

[UserNameRequired]

Something has changed of late in the new Global Entry Terminals. The last time I entered at IAD at their high tech C&I facility in the main terminal building, returning from ATH via LHR in early March, As soon as I looked at the screen while fumbling for my Passport to enter into its designated slot, I saw my photo on the screen, followed by a welcome message and instructions to proceed to exit! So somewhat confused I followed the path towards exit. On the way there was an Agent station where a CBP officer asked me if I had anything to declare to which I responded in the negative. Upon which he waved me through. I am not sure whether the GE terminal recognized me or what exactly happened. But the bottom line is that my Passport never left my pocket and I was in the US through some sort of facial recognition I surmise.

Then I recalled that something similar had happened at ORD T5 back in August last year when I arrived there from Delhi too.

I will see what happens in IAH when I return from LHR in May.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/global-entry-facial-recognition/https://thepointsguy.com/news/global-entry-paperless/
We just got our GE this winter. We haven't traveled yet to try it out. We mostly wanted Pre-Check, but the GE wasn't that much more and we may use it in the coming years so why not...

 

[basketmaker]

Very surprised to see Denver there. How many international flights does it have? And i’d also like to see takeoff numbers for each of these airports as this ignores cargo flights

DEN serves TYO, LHR, MUC, FRA, KEF plus the Hawaiian Islands and most of the Canada, Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Lufthansa, Icelandair and British Airways all serve Denver.

 

[basketmaker]

Very surprised to see Denver there. How many international flights does it have? And i’d also like to see takeoff numbers for each of these airports as this ignores cargo flights

UPS operates 5-6 flights a day to/from various sort hubs. FedEx the same, Amazon/Prime have a couple and DHL operates into here. That does include the multiple feeder aircraft like Key Lime Air.

 

[basketmaker]

Very surprised to see Denver there. How many international flights does it have? And i’d also like to see takeoff numbers for each of these airports as this ignores cargo flights

Here are the 2022 stats for DEN including cargo.

 

[SteveSFL]

Regarding the ATL baggage screening system:

Imagine a single conveyor feeding trays into the scanning device. At the drop off point, there are 4 or 5 short conveyors side by side that intersect the main conveyor to feed trays onto it. Each of these short “lanes” holds I think three trays.

So essentially 4 (or is it 5) people can stand side by side and each simultaneously place a bag or belongings into a tray that’s in front of them (you grab an empty tray from below the table).

As the main conveyor moves forward to send a tray into the scanner, the system decides somehow which of the short perpendicular conveyors to advance, putting one tray onto the main conveyor.

If you’ve got two carryons, you have to place the first one in the bin in front of you and then wait until it’s your lane’s turn to advance one tray onto the main conveyor. That makes space for another tray (which you pull from below) for your second bag. It’s possible that four or more bags have to get scanned between the time you place your first bag in one bin and your second in the second bin.

When I went thru, I walked up to the lane farthest from the scanner, as the other lanes already had people at them. I had to wait for the system to allow a tray from my lane to advance to the main conveyor before there was even space for my first tray/bag. Then of course had to wait for about four more bags to get scanned. While waiting for space for my second bag (a backpack) a space for a tray opened in the line next to me and nobody walked up. The TSA agent said “there’s a space here” and pointed to the lane next to me. So I grabbed a tray from below and placed it in the empty spot in the lane next to me.

Before I could place my backpack in that tray the TSA agent angrily shouted at me “NO! You don’t get to use two lanes! You have to wait for your lane to move again!”

If I’d have been in a just a little bit more of a rebellious mood, I’d probably have ended up getting a body cavity search.

So finally my lane moved forward and I was able to place my backpack on the conveyor. Given that I had some expensive coins in the backpack I wanted to wait for it to move forward onto the main conveyor but she ordered me to move along and go thru the magnetometer.

Once thru the magnetometer, I waited at least 5 minutes for my first bag to exit the scanner and come down the conveyor. A person that had just walked thru the magnetometer walked up and started to grab my bag. I said “Excuse me, that‘s my bag”. He said “Sorry I have a red bag, too.”

I replied “well you just came thru so it’s probably going to be about five minutes before it comes out”. Of course when my backpack came thru it sat just out of reach for a while and then got diverted to another conveyor behind a plexiglass screen and another agent retrieved it and had to inspect the coins (I’m not complaining about that part).

I know that it’s a convoluted description of the system and a picture would probably be helpful, but essentially at a normal checkpoint the length of the table /conveyor into the scanner can probably accommodate 5-6 bags before they enter the scanner.

With the setup at ATL, the conveyor queue prior to entering the scanner probably accommodates up to maybe 20 bags. The scanner still only does one bag at a time so your wait on the other end is a lot longer. And it’s unlikely that your bags will come out one after the other if you have two, because the system takes only one tray from each “lane” and then cycles back thru.

 

[jpakala]

Ranking is tricky for multiple reasons. NY & Chicago have more than one airport. Mainly NYC but also Chicago have much train service whereas Atlanta and Denver each have one! New York (partly by coastal location) lacks the Atlanta, DFW & Denver massive connecting-flight phenomenon. Rankings also differ according to what's counted, such as number of passengers or number of flights and, for that matter, things like originating flights versus en route stops and whether cargo or military flights are included.

 

[Cal]

Ranking is tricky for multiple reasons. NY & Chicago have more than one airport. Mainly NYC but also Chicago have much train service whereas Atlanta and Denver each have one! New York (partly by coastal location) lacks the Atlanta, DFW & Denver massive connecting-flight phenomenon. Rankings also differ according to what's counted, such as number of passengers or number of flights and, for that matter, things like originating flights versus en route stops and whether cargo or military flights are included.

I don’t think the amount of train service has any noticeable effect on flights. Maybe in New York, but not anywhere else IMO.

 

[Willbridge]

I was surprised when I was there - lots of Frankfurt flights on UAL.

Lufthansa studied its expansion in the U.S. very carefully. I spent 2½ hours of Denver RTD's time on the phone with their researcher who found me back when they were choosing between Denver and Phoenix. We covered the then existing highway coach network that we ran, the prospects for rail transit, and then regional tourism and prospects for German businesses. Of course, I mentioned our Siemens LRV's (daughters of Frankfurt's U-2 cars), our MAN articulateds, and our Mall Shuttles based on Frankfurt airport tarmac shuttles.

So when I finally had the opportunity for a reunion trip to Berlin in 2002, it had to be with...


Denver fits the Location, Location, Location rule for value as a network hub.

 

[jis]

It does help LH immensely that Denver is Lufthansa’s TATL JV partner United’s hub for onward connections to domestic destinations in Central and Western US.