Not Dubai or Tokyo – world’s busiest airport with 106 million passengers in 2025

One airport has been named the world’s busiest for the fifth year in a row, seeing over 106 million passengers in 2025. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International has topped the Airports Council International’s ranking of more than 2,200 airports across 181 countries.

It is the primary international airport serving Atlanta and its surrounding metropolitan area in the southeastern US state of Georgia. The airport has been the world’s busiest by passenger traffic since 1998, a 27-year streak only broken in 2020 by the Covid pandemic. Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport has two terminals and seven concourses with a total of 200 gates. The airport offers paid parking in several parking garages and lots around the airport, with a total of 33,000 parking spots as of June 2024. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta is followed by Dubai, Tokyo Haneda, Dallas/Fort Worth, and Shanghai. Four of the ten busiest airports are in the US.

The Atlanta airport saw a 1.6% decrease in passenger traffic compared to 2024, while Dubai’s numbers are up 3.1% and Tokyo Haneda’s are up 6.7%.

Chicago O’Hare’s are also going up, with a 6% increase in passenger traffic and a number one spot in global aircraft movements (860,000 take-offs and landings).

The Airports Council International said that, last year, passenger traffic internationally reached 9.8 billion, a 3.6% increase from 2024. The top 10 airports account for 9% of global passenger traffic.

The world’s busiest airports in 2025, by the number of passengers

1. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta - 106.3 million