Airports Council International (ACI) World published its preliminary world airport traffic rankings – covering passenger traffic, cargo volumes, and aircraft movements for 2020 – showing the dramatic impact of COVID-19 on what are ordinarily the world’s busiest airports.

Global passenger traffic at the world’s top 10 busiest airports decreased by -45.7% in 2020. Overall, passenger traffic at the world’s airports decreased by -64.6% which shows that the impact of the pandemic and the early stages of recovery in air travel has not been uniform around the world.

According to the preliminary data, Guangzhou Bai Yun International Airport in China recorded the most passenger traffic in 2020, with Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in the United States just behind.

Seven of the top 10 airports for passenger traffic are in China with three in the United States. In most cases, domestic air travel is beginning a modest rebound while international air travel remains depressed because of on-going travel restrictions. For example, Hongqiao International Airport in China has moved from 46th position in 2019 to the 9th in 2020, illustrating the uneven nature of the impact of, and recovery from, the pandemic across the world.

“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. “The data published today reveals the challenge airports continue to face and it remains imperative that the industry is supported through direct support and sensible policy decisions from governments to ensure that aviation can endure, rebuild connectivity, and fuel a global economic recovery.

“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.

Air cargo was less impacted by COVID 19, with volumes decreasing by only -8.9%, to an estimated 109 million metric tonnes in 2020, equivalent to 2016 levels (110 million metric tonnes).

Air cargo volumes in the top 10 airports grew by +3% in 2020. These airports represent around 28% (30.6 million metric tonnes) of the global volumes in 2020. The gain can be attributed to the increase in demand for online consumer goods and pharmaceutical products and personal protective equipment. With a +6.7% increase, Memphis International Airport surpassed Hong Kong International Airport.

ACI World estimates that there were 58 million global aircraft movements in 2020, representing a drop of -43% from 2019. The top 10 airports represent 7% of global traffic (4.2 million movements) and experienced a drop of -34.3% compared to 2019. Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport surpassed Chicago O’Hare International Airport, after leading in 2019 and 2018.

For airports, revenues are tightly correlated to traffic levels but, like many other capital-intensive businesses, a large proportion of airport costs remain largely fixed and do not fall at the same level as traffic throughput and revenues during the crisis. Even with reduced operations, the closure of terminals and staff layoffs, this imbalance remains.


PASSENGERS

2020	2019	AIRPORT	2020	2019	Percent Change
1	11	GUANGZHOU, CN (CAN)	43 767 558	73 394 810	-40.4
2	1	ATLANTA GA, US (ATL)	42 918 685	110 531 300	-61.2
3	24	CHENGDU, CN (CTU)	40 741 509	55 858 552	-27.1
4	10	DALLAS/FORT WORTH TX, US (DFW)	39 364 990	75 066 956	-47.6
5	26	SHENZHEN, CN (SZX)	37 916 054	52 931 925	-28.4
6	2	BEIJING, CN (PEK)	34 513 827	100 013 642	-65.5
7	16	DENVER CO, US (DEN)	33 741 129	69 015 703	-51.1
8	37	KUNMING, CN (KMG)	32 990 805	48 076 238	-31.4
9	46	SHANGHAI, CN (SHA)	31 165 641	45 637 882	-31.7
10	40	XI’AN, CN (XIY)	31 073 924	47 220 745	-34.2

•Total passengers enplaned and deplaned, passengers in transit counted once



INTERNATIONAL PASSENGERS

2020	2019	AIRPORT	2020	2019	Percent Change
1	1	DUBAI, AE (DXB)	25 831 363	86 328 896	-70.1
2	3	AMSTERDAM, NL (AMS)	20 880 990	71 679 691	-70.9
3	2	LONDON, GB (LHR)	20 650 473	76 043 973	-72.8
4	6	PARIS, FR (CDG)	19 057 856	69 841 276	-72.7
5	8	FRANKFURT, DE (FRA)	16 837 104	63 067 739	-73.3
6	14	ISTANBUL, TR (IST	15 945 340	39 580 735	-59.7
7	15	DOHA, QA (DOH)	12 522 288	38 786 566	-67.7
8	5	INCHEON, KR (ICN)	11 955 756	70 578 050	-83.1
9	7	SINGAPORE, SG (SIN)	11 635 000	67 601 000	-82.8
10	11	MADRID, ES (MAD)	11 052 157	44 919 124	-75.4

•International passengers enplaned and deplaned



CARGO (METRIC TONNES)

2020	2019	AIRPORT	2020	2019	Percent Change
1	2	MEMPHIS TN, US (MEM)	4 613 431	4 322 740	6.7
2	1	HONG KONG SAR, HK (HKG)	4 468 089	4 809 485	-7.1
3	3	SHANGHAI, CN (PVG)	3 686 627	3 634 230	1.4
4	6	ANCHORAGE AK, US (ANC)	3 157 682	2 745 348	15.0
5	4	LOUISVILLE KY, US (SDF)	2 917 243	2 790 109	4.6
6	5	INCHEON, KR (ICN)	2 822 370	2 764 369	2.1
7	9	CHINESE TAIPEI (TPE)	2 342 714	2 182 342	7.4
8	13	LOS ANGELES CA, US (LAX)	2 229 476	2 092 003	6.6
9	8	DOHA, QA (DOH)	2 175 292	2 215 804	-1.8
10	12	MIAMI FL, US (MIA)	2 137 699	2 092 472	2.2

Cargo: loaded and unloaded freight and mail in metric tonnes



AIRCRAFT MOVEMENTS

2020	2019	AIRPORT	2020	2019	Percent Change
1	2	ATLANTA GA, US (ATL)	548 016	904 301	-39.4
2	1	CHICAGO IL, US (ORD)	538 211	919 704	-41.5<
3	3	DALLAS/FORT WORTH TX, US (DFW)	514 702	720 007	-28.5
4	5	DENVER CO, US (DEN)	436 971	631 955	-30.9
5	20	PHOENIX AZ, US (DVT)	402 444	456 790	-11.9
6	7	CHARLOTTE NC, US (CLT)	397 983	578 263	-31.2
7	4	LOS ANGELES CA, US (LAX)	379 364	691 257	-45.1
8	12	GUANGZHOU, CN (CAN)	373 421	491 249;	-24.0
9	11	SHANGHAI, CN (PVG)	325 678	511 846	-36.4
10	8	LAS VEGAS NV, US (LAS)	323 422	552 962	-41.5