Dubai International Airport (DXB) was the second busiest airport in the world following Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which ranked first, according to the latest 2023 data from the Airports Council International (ACI) World.
ACI’s key findings confirm that total global passenger traffic in 2023 reached close to 8.7 billion amid the resurgence in international traffic. That is an increase of 30.5 percent from 2022 or a recovery of 94.2 percent from pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Travel saw a recovery in 2023 due to several factors including the reopening of the Asian markets and a growing inclination towards travel despite macroeconomic conditions.
According to ACI’s preliminary report released in April, DXB retained its title as the world’s busiest international airport for international travel for the 10th year running.
Dubai International Airport sees surge
In 2023, Dubai International Airport welcomed close to 87 million passengers, a 31.7 percent increase compared to 2022 and a 0.7 percent rise from pre-pandemic 2019.
“The dataset findings indicate that the demand for air travel is as strong as ever. International passenger traffic has now almost fully recovered from the pandemic, and the regional disparities are gone,” stated ACI World director general and CEO Luis Felipe de Oliveira.
“China’s reopening fuelled much of 2023’s strong growth and has propelled Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport back into the top 20. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport continues to lead the way, but the revival of the Middle East and Asia-Pacific hubs is the standout takeaway from 2023 figures,” de Oliveira added.
Air cargo sees decline
Air cargo saw a slight decline from 2022. However, the report attributes this decline to the sector recalibrating from the historic highs in the past few years. “Cargo traffic is concentrated in the hub airports and Hong Kong retains its top spot,” added de Oliveira.
Air cargo volumes decreased 1.8 percent year-on-year, finishing close to 115 million tons in 2023. Notably, air cargo volumes in the top 20 airports, representing around 42 percent of the global volumes in 2023, dropped 3.2 percent annually in 2023 but maintained a gain of 1.6 percent in 2019.
Hong Kong remained in the top spot for air cargo volumes, followed by Memphis and Shanghai Pudong. Meanwhile, Dubai International Airport rose one position to 17th for air cargo volumes in 2023, witnessing a 4.5 percent annual increase in volumes.
Read: Can you use smart gates at Dubai airport? Here’s how to check
Key figures
The top 20 airports representing 16 percent of global traffic, or 1.41 billion passengers, witnessed a gain of 26.4 percent from 2022 or a recovery of 96.8 percent from 2019’s 1.46 billion passengers.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport remains the busiest airport in the world in 2023 followed by Dubai International Airport and Dallas Fort Worth. However, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport declined to the 58th position in 2022 but regained the 12th spot in 2023 after being the top airport in 2020.
The ACI report also reveals that eight airports from the top 20 rankings are in the United States. Almost all have significant domestic passenger shares between 70 and 95 percent.
Notably, the Incheon International Airport saw the biggest jump in the top 20 rankings, rising from 99th in 2022 to the 20th spot in 2023.
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