No. 1 for 21 Consecutive Years—Hartsfield-Jackson Confirmed as World’s Busiest Airport

Staff Report From Metro Atlanta CEO

Thursday, March 14th, 2019

In London during the annual Airport Economics & Finance Conference & Exhibition, Airports Council International (ACI) published its preliminary world airport traffic rankings, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) remains the world’s busiest airport for the 21st consecutive year. ATL has served more passengers than any other airport in the world in a single year. Additionally, ATL has remained the most efficient airport in the world for the past 16 years.

The preliminary total passenger traffic rankings show that in 2018, ATL served 107,394,029 passengers—enplaning and deplaning—a 3.33 percent increase over 2017’s total. These numbers are based on ATL’s Air Service Development figures and will be verified later in 2019 by ACI, the only global trade representative of the world’s airport authorities.
 
“Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is an amazing place,” said Airport General Manager John Selden. “The strong relationships with our airline stakeholders and federal partners provide the platform to continuously run the busiest and most efficient airport in the world.”

On Feb. 4, 2019, also known as “Super Bowl LIII Mass Exodus Day,” TSA officers broke the previous single-day screening record by nearly 9 percent. The new single-day record for screened passengers at ATL is now 101,999, which also includes the highest number of PreCheck passengers screened with 46,453. The same day, TSA officers also screened 53,781 checked bags.
 
Prior to Feb. 4, the highest number of single-day screened passengers at ATL was 93,082 on May 25, 2018.
 
ATL welcomes Beijing Capital International Airport to the 100 million passenger club.