Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson was the busiest airport in the world in 2025 with 106.3 million passengers, ahead of Dubai (95.2 million) and Tokyo Haneda (91.7 million). This ranks the top 20 by total passengers, arriving, departing and connecting, using ACI World’s 2025 data as of November 2026. It counts people, not planes or cargo, so it differs from our rankings of the largest airlines and of airliner sizes.
Pictured: Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, #1 with 106.3 million passengers in 2025 (Atlanta News First report).
| Rank | Airport | City | Country | Passengers 2025 (millions) | Change vs 2024 | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL) | Atlanta | United States | 106.3 | −1.6% | North America |
| 2 | Dubai International (DXB) | Dubai | United Arab Emirates | 95.2 | +3.1% | Middle East |
| 3 | Tokyo Haneda (HND) | Tokyo | Japan | 91.7 | +6.7% | Asia |
| 4 | Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW) | Dallas–Fort Worth | United States | 85.7 | −2.5% | North America |
| 5 | Shanghai Pudong International (PVG) | Shanghai | China | 85.0 | +10.7% | Asia |
| 6 | Chicago O’Hare International (ORD) | Chicago | United States | 84.9 | +6.0% | North America |
| 7 | London Heathrow (LHR) | London | United Kingdom | 84.5 | +0.7% | Europe |
| 8 | Istanbul Airport (IST) | Istanbul | Turkey | 84.4 | +5.5% | Europe |
| 9 | Guangzhou Baiyun International (CAN) | Guangzhou | China | 83.6 | +9.5% | Asia |
| 10 | Denver International (DEN) | Denver | United States | 82.4 | +0.1% | North America |
| 11 | Indira Gandhi International (DEL) | Delhi | India | 78.1 | +0.4% | Asia |
| 12 | Seoul Incheon International (ICN) | Incheon | South Korea | 74.1 | +4.1% | Asia |
| 13 | Los Angeles International (LAX) | Los Angeles | United States | 73.7 | −3.8% | North America |
| 14 | Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) | Paris | France | 72.0 | +2.5% | Europe |
| 15 | Beijing Capital International (PEK) | Beijing | China | 70.7 | +5.0% | Asia |
| 16 | Singapore Changi (SIN) | Singapore | Singapore | 70.0 | +3.5% | Asia |
| 17 | Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) | Amsterdam | Netherlands | 68.8 | +2.9% | Europe |
| 18 | Madrid–Barajas (MAD) | Madrid | Spain | 68.1 | +3.0% | Europe |
| 19 | Shenzhen Bao’an International (SZX) | Shenzhen | China | 66.5 | +8.2% | Asia |
| 20 | Kuala Lumpur International (KUL) | Sepang (Kuala Lumpur) | Malaysia | 63.4 | +11.0% | Asia |
No matching rows.
As of November 2026; data year 2025. Passengers are total passengers (enplaned plus deplaned, including transfers counted at each airport) for calendar year 2025 from ACI World’s airport traffic ranking, published April 14, 2026, rounded to 0.1 million; change is versus ACI’s 2024 figure for the same airport.[1][2] Chicago O’Hare is shown at 84.9 million (84,856,018); some outlets quote 84.8 million. Regions follow the airport’s location, with Turkey placed in Europe and the UAE in the Middle East. Cargo traffic is not covered here. The 21st-placed airport, Frankfurt, handled 63.2 million.[5]
Hartsfield-Jackson handled 106.3 million passengers in 2025, down 1.6% on 2024 and about 3.8% below its 2019 level, yet still the world’s busiest airport.[1][2] It has held the top spot in all but one of the last 28 years, losing it only in 2020 during the pandemic.[3] It is the main hub of Delta Air Lines.[3]
Dubai International grew 3.1% to 95.2 million passengers in 2025, nearly all of them international, which keeps it the world’s busiest airport for international travel.[1][4] It is the main hub of Emirates. The video is Bloomberg Television’s report on DXB overtaking London Heathrow as the busiest international airport.
Haneda added 6.7% to reach 91.7 million passengers and moved up from fourth to third place.[1][2] Its 2024 total was 85.9 million, so it gained about 5.8 million passengers in a year.[5] It is the closest major airport to central Tokyo and mainly serves domestic routes, with an international terminal (Terminal 3).
DFW fell from third to fourth place after traffic dropped 2.5% to 85.7 million passengers (87.8 million in 2024).[1][5] It is the largest hub of American Airlines and is in the middle of a roughly $9 billion rebuild, which the video covers.[6]
Pudong had the biggest jump in the top 10, rising from tenth to fifth with traffic up 10.7% to about 85.0 million passengers.[1][2] It is the main international airport of Shanghai, 30 km east of the city centre.[7] The video reports 30 million cross-border passenger trips in 2025, with foreign arrivals up 21%.
O’Hare climbed two places to sixth, with traffic up 6.0% to 84.9 million passengers.[1][8] It is a hub for both United and American, and a long-running terminal and gate renovation is under way; the video from NBC Chicago looks at those plans.
Heathrow grew only 0.7% to 84.5 million passengers and slipped from fifth to seventh as Asian and US airports overtook it.[1][2] It is still Europe’s busiest airport by the narrowest of margins: Istanbul Airport finished just 0.04 million passengers behind.[1] The video is BBC News on the airport’s reopening after a substation fire closed it for most of a day in March 2025.
Istanbul Airport carried 84.4 million passengers, up 5.5%, only 0.04 million behind Heathrow, and fell from seventh to eighth in the ranking.[1][2] It replaced Atatürk Airport as Istanbul’s main airport and is the hub of Turkish Airlines. The video is an overview of the airport.
Baiyun grew 9.5% to 83.6 million passengers and rose from twelfth place; it had been 57th in 2022.[1][2][9] A new Terminal 3 and a fifth runway have recently come into service, which is the subject of the CGTN video.
Denver was flat, up 0.1% to 82.4 million passengers, but that was enough to drop it from sixth to tenth as others grew faster.[1][5] It is one of four US airports in the top 10 (five in the top 20).