ATLANTA – Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is still the world’s busiest airport.
That’s according to a preliminary report from Airports Council International, a worldwide airport association.
“2010 underscored the resilience of the air transport business and resulted in over 5 billion annual passengers for the first time ever,” ACI World Director General Angela Gittens said in a statement. “2010 also pronounced the shift and divergence in growth across the regions.”
Gittens added: “While North America and Europe have struggled to reach pre-crisis passenger volumes, Asia-Pacific, Latin America-Caribbean and Middle East sustained a strong momentum and gained market share through double digit growth.”
During 2010, global passenger traffic grew 6.3 percent and cargo increased 15.2 percent compared to 2009. The Beijing airport ranked as the world’s second busiest airport, followed by Chicago O’Hare and London Heathrow.
“Passenger and freight growth clearly surpassed global GDP growth in 2010,” Gittens said. “GDP growth projections for this and the coming years are high creating a positive outlook for demand for air transport.
“This underpins the need to continue to expand and modernize airport infrastructure to maintain high standards of efficiency and customer service,” Gittens added. “More than ever, airports will be asked to finance these projects autonomously without public funds requiring private and public airports to be empowered to generate necessary returns on their investment.”