Dubai International Airport recorded 5 million seats in January 2024, moved up one spot to become the busiest airport worldwide

In January of 2024, Dubai International (DXB) airport moved up one spot to become the busiest airport worldwide, capping off a stellar year.

Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL), which dropped to second position with 4.7 million seats, was surpassed by Dubai International, home of the largest international airline Emirates, which recorded 5 million seats in January 2024, according to data supplied by aviation consultant OAG. The capacity of the American airport dropped by 8% this month over the previous one.

Dubai International Airport (DXB) ranked third in 2019 and second in the world in terms of traffic as of January 2023.

With 56.5 million tickets, OAG also named DXB as the busiest international airport for 2023. With a seating capacity of 53.98 million and 45.27 million, respectively, the Middle East aviation hub was the busiest international airport in 2022 and 2019. This year, there was a 25% increase in seats compared to the previous year.

Rankings are determined by comparing the scheduled capacity for the current month to that of the corresponding month in 2023.The top ten busiest international airports use solely international seats, whereas the top ten busiest global airports use total capacity (including domestic and international).

The top ten domestic and international airports in the world as of January were Tokyo International (Haneda), Guangzhou, London Heathrow, Dallas/Fort Worth, Shanghai Pudong, Denver International, Istanbul, and Beijing Capital International.

The busiest international airport is still Dubai; other contenders include Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International, London Heathrow, Seoul Incheon, Singapore Changi, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Hong Kong International, Doha, and Paris Charles de Gaulle.