Los Angeles International (LAX), one of the fastest growing among the world’s 20 busiest airports, climbed to fourth place in the airport rankings for 2016, according to Airports Council International. Passenger traffic at LAX jumped 8 percent to 80.91 million passengers last year.
LAX joins Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL) in the top five. ATL retained the top spot as the world’s busiest airport, with its traffic rising 2.6 percent to 104.17 million passengers in 2016.
Other airports in the top five were Beijing Capital International (PEK), Dubai International (DXB) and Tokyo’s Haneda (HND).
Seoul’s Incheon (ICN) was the fastest growing among the top 20 airports. ICN, ranked 19th in 2016, registered a 17.1 percent passenger increase to 57.85 million. Among top 20 airports only two, Frankfurt (FRA) and Istanbul Atatürk (IST) registered passenger declines in 2016.
Overall, traffic at the world’s 20 busiest air-passenger hubs increased 4.7 percent in 2016. More than 1.4 billion passengers passed through the 20 airports last year, representing 18 percent of global passenger traffic.
In preliminary data ACI also said total passenger numbers at all airports globally rose 5.6 percent in 2016, with a 6.6 percent gain coming from international passengers. Cargo volume rose an estimated 3.3 percent, the group said.
