Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) continues to be the busiest airfield in the world, handling an estimated 104 million passengers in 2016, according to an annual report by industry group Airports Council International (ACI).

Passenger traffic at ATL grew 2.6 per cent between 2015 and 2016 as the airport retained its long-held crown as the world leader in airport passenger traffic. Beijing (PEK) held the second spot, while Dubai (DXB) continued to be the world’s third-busiest airport (and the leading airport for international travel). Traffic at PEK grew 5 per cent to over 94 million passengers, but a slower growth rate at Beijing combined with expanded fleet operations by Delta Air Lines at its Atlanta hub helped ATL retain its top spot in the ACI rankings.

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) rode 8 per cent passenger growth to become the fourth-busiest airport in 2016, up from seventh place in 2015 and bumping Chicago/O’Hare (ORD) down to sixth position. The increase in traffic at LAX was reflective of strong grown in trans-Pacific air travel overall, especially between China and North America. Tokyo/Haneda (HND) rounded out the top-5 rankings by ACI.

Overall, 1.4 billion passengers traveled through the world’s 20 busiest airports in 2016, an increase of 5.6 percent compared to 2015. Total international passengers rose 6.6 per cent.

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