Airports Council International – North America has released its 2021 North American Airport Traffic Summary containing passenger, cargo and aircraft operations from 268 North American airports.
In 2021, North American airports experienced an increase of 32 percent in international passenger traffic from 2020. Similarly, domestic passenger traffic showed more robust recovery with a growth rate of 78 percent. Eight U.S. airports made it to the top 10 world’s busiest airports in terms of total passenger traffic.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) remained the busiest airport in North America and the world in 2021 with 75.7 million passengers, an increase of 76.4 percent from 2020. Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) is once again Canada’s most traveled airport with 12.7 million passengers, a decrease of 5.2 percent from 2020. Memphis International Airport was North America’s busiest cargo airport in 2021, handling 4.5 million metric tons, a decrease of 2.9 percent from 2020.
“After the devastating losses experienced by our industry in 2020, we are so pleased to see a strong rebound in 2021,” said ACI-NA President and CEO Kevin M. Burke. “While we aren’t out of the woods just yet as our numbers have not yet rebounded beyond pre-pandemic levels, our industry’s brightest days are ahead of us. Airports remain fully committed to working with their airline and government partners to restore and grow domestic and international air service to reconnect local communities to the world.”
