Atlanta Airport No Longer Busiest In The World: Industry Report

ATLANTA — The world’s busiest airport is no longer in the southwest corner of the biggest city in Georgia.

More specifically, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has fallen to No. 2 on the list of busiest airports, according to a report of 2020 world airport traffic rankings released Thursday by industry organization Airports Council International World.

ACI World said Guangzhou Bai Yun International Airport in China recorded the most passenger flights in 2020, ending what CNN identified as Atlanta’s 22-year reign at the top.

According to the report, Hartsfield-Jackson lost more than 61 percent of its passenger traffic from 2019 to 2020, primarily due to COVID-19.

“The impact of the COVID-19 on global passenger traffic pandemic brought aviation to a virtual standstill in 2020 and we continue to face an existential threat,” ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira said in a statement released with the report.

“The findings show that the impact remains uneven with different regions experiencing different challenges and requiring different policy decisions and support from governments to lay the foundation for recovery.”

Atlanta’s passenger numbers dropped last year to 42.9 million, down from 110.5 million in 2019, ACI World reports. Guangzhou numbers declined as well, at a rate of just over 40 percent. But the city in China’s southwest region logged 43.7 million passengers last year, down from 11th place on ACI World’s list at 73.3 million.

Three of the Top 10 airports in the list are American — including Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, and Denver — with the remaining airports recorded in China.

ACI World said global passenger traffic at those Top 10 airports decreased by nearly 48 percent, while overall that decline was at a rate of more than 65 percent.