North American airport passenger traffic increased by 5.4 percent, and cargo traffic gained 4 percent in 2015, according to statistics released this week by Airports Council International – North America. The data is based on ACI-NA’s 223 North American airport members.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL) remained the world’s busiest airport with more than 101 million passengers, a 5.4 percent increase over 2014. Toronto Pearson International (YYZ) was again Canada’s busiest airport with 41 million passengers, an increase of 6.4 percent. Memphis International continued to be the busiest cargo airport in North America, handling 4.3 million metric tons.
On a percentage basis, Dallas Love Field (DAL) was the fastest-growing airport among the top 50 in North America in 2015, with passenger traffic rising 54 percent to 14.5 million passengers. Three other top 50 airports had double-digit growth. Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA) registered passenger growth of 12.9 percent to 42.3 million passengers. Ronald Reagan Washington National’s (DCA) passenger numbers increased 10.7 percent to 23 million and Austin-Bergstrom International’s (AUS) passenger volume gained 11 percent to 11.9 million passengers.
“The continued success of North American airports reinforces their role as strong contributors to their local communities, as well as the global economy,” said ACI-NA President and CEO Kevin M. Burke. “Because all of North America’s top 50 airports reported traffic increases in 2015, this year’s report highlights many of the continuing capacity challenges faced by North American airports. It’s important we continue our work to modernize airport infrastructure to meet growing demands.”
