The cachet of being known as the world's busiest airport is fiercely fought over by owners of the world's largest airports.

The following airports have variously made claims (or had claims made for them).

• Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, United States - Largest number of passengers annually (1998-2003) - Most arrivals and departures annually (1999-2000)
• O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois, United States - Largest number of passengers annually (pre-1998) - Most arrivals and departures annually (pre-1998, 2001-)
• Frankfurt International Airport, Frankfurt am Main, Germany - Most international destinations served.
• Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom - Largest number of international passengers annually
• Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California, United States - Most passengers with final destination in airport city (not just stop-over)
• Memphis International Airport, Memphis, Tennessee, United States (home of FedEx) - Most cargo traffic by volume annually

Before O'Hare took the lead in 1962, the world's busiest airport by passenger and aircraft movements was Chicago's Midway Airport, which took the title in 1932 (before World War II, Chicago was the origin or destination of one in four U.S. airline flights). [1]

The thirty busiest airports for various periods (data provided by Airports Council International) measured by number of passengers are as follows. One 'passenger' is described as someone who arrives in, departs from or transfers through the airport on a given day.

2004 preliminary statistics

1. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, United States (ATL) 83,578,906
2. O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois, United States (ORD) 75,373,888
3. London Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom (LHR) 67,343,960
4. Tokyo International Airport, Tokyo, Japan (HND) 62,320,968
5. Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California United States, (LAX) 60,710,830
6. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, United States, (DFW) 59,412,217
7. Frankfurt International Airport, Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) 51,098,271
8. Charles De Gaulle International Airport, Paris, France (CDG) 50,860,561
9. Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (AMS) 42,541,180
10. Denver International Airport, Denver, Colorado, United States (DEN) 42,393,693
11. McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States (LAS) 41,436,571
12. Sky Harbor International Airport, Phoenix, Arizona, United States (PHX) 39,493,519
13. Barajas International Airport, Madrid, Spain (MAD) 38,525,899
14. Bangkok International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand (BKK) 37,960,169
15. John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York, United States (JFK) 37,362,010
16. Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport, Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States (MSP) 36,748,577
17. Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China (HKG) 36,713,000
18. George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston, Texas, United States (IAH) 36,490,828
19. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Detroit, Michigan, United States (DTW) 35,199,307
20. Beijing Capital International Airport, Beijing, People's Republic of China (PEK) 34,883,190
21. San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California, United States (SFO) 33,497,084
22. Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark, New Jersey, United States (EWR) 31,847,280
23. London Gatwick Airport, London, United Kingdom (LGW) 31,461,523
24. Orlando International Airport, Orlando, Florida, United States (MCO) 31,110,852
25. Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan (NRT) 31,106,264
26. Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore (SIN) 30,353,565
27. Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida, United States (MIA) 30,156,727
28. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, Washington, United States (SEA) 28,703,352
29. Toronto Pearson International Airport, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (YYZ) 28,655,526
30. Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States (PHL) 28,508,510

2003 final statistics

1. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, United States (ATL) 79,086,792
2. O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois, United States (ORD) 69,508,672
3. London Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom (LHR) 63,487,136
4. Tokyo International Airport, Tokyo, Japan (HND) 62,876,269
5. Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California United States, (LAX) 54,982,838
6. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, United States, (DFW) 53,253,607
7. Frankfurt International Airport, Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) 48,351,664
8. Charles De Gaulle International Airport, Paris, France (CDG) 48,220,436
9. Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (AMS) 39,960,400
10. Denver International Airport, Denver, Colorado, United States (DEN) 37,505,138
11. Sky Harbor International Airport, Phoenix, Arizona, United States (PHX) 37,412,165
12. McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States (LAS) 36,285,932
13. Barajas International Airport, Madrid, Spain (MAD) 35,854,293
14. George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston, Texas, United States (IAH) 34,154,574
15. Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport, Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States (MSP) 33,201,860
16. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Detroit, Michigan, United States (DTW) 32,664,620
17. John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York, United States (JFK) 31,732,371
18. Bangkok International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand (BKK) 30,175,379
19. London Gatwick Airport, London, United Kingdom (LGW) 30,007,021
20. Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida, United States (MIA) 29,595,618
21. Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark, New Jersey, United States (EWR) 29,431,061
22. San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California, United States (SFO) 29,313,271
23. Orlando International Airport, Orlando, Florida, United States (MCO) 27,319,223
24. Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China (HKG) 27,092,290
25. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, Washington, United States (SEA) 26,755,888
26. Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan (NRT) 26,537,406
27. Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport, Rome, Italy (FCO) 26,284,478
28. Kingsford Smith International Airport, Sydney, Australia (SYD) 25,333,508
29. Toronto Pearson International Airport, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (YYZ) 24,739,312
30. Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States (PHL) 24,671,075

2002 final statistics

1. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, United States (ATL) 76,876,128
2. O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois, United States (ORD) 66,565,952
3. London Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom (LHR) 63,338,641
4. Tokyo International Airport, Tokyo, Japan (HND) 61,079,478
5. Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California United States, (LAX) 56,223,843
6. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, United States, (DFW) 52,828,573
7. Frankfurt International Airport, Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) 48,450,357
8. Charles De Gaulle International Airport, Paris, France (CDG) 48,350,172
9. Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (AMS) 40,736,009
10. Denver International Airport, Denver, Colorado, United States (DEN) 35,651,098
11. Sky Harbor International Airport, Phoenix, Arizona, United States (PHX) 35,547,167
12. McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States (LAS) 35,009,011
13. Barajas International Airport, Madrid, Spain (MAD) 33,913,456
14. George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston, Texas, United States (IAH) 33,905,253
15. Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China (HKG) 33,882,463
16. Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport, Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States (MSP) 32,628,331
17. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Detroit, Michigan, United States (DTW) 32,477,694
18. Bangkok International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand (BKK) 32,182,980
19. San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California, United States (SFO) 31,456,422
20. Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida, United States (MIA) 30,060,241
21. John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York, United States (JFK) 29,943,084
22. London Gatwick Airport, London, United Kingdom (LGW) 29,628,423
23. Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark, New Jersey, United States (EWR) 29,202,654
24. Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore (SIN) 28,979,344
25. Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan (NRT) 28,883,606
26. Beijing Capital International Airport, Beijing, People's Republic of China (PEK) 27,159,665
27. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, Washington, United States (SEA) 26,690,843
28. Orlando International Airport, Orlando, Florida, United States (MCO) 26,653,672
29. Toronto Pearson International Airport, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (YYZ) 25,930,363
30. Lambert-Saint Louis International Airport, Saint Louis, Missouri, United States (STL) 25,626,114

External links

• Airports Council International website. A representative industry body for the airport industry that provides air travel statistics