Delhi airport breaks into world’s top 10 busiest with 7.78 crore flyers, beats London, Tokyo

Indira Gandhi International Airport

Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in Delhi has been ranked the ninth busiest airport in the world for 2024, according to new data released by Airports Council International (ACI). The Economic Times reported that the airport handled more than 7.78 crore passengers last year, moving up from the tenth position it held in 2023.

The ACI rankings, based on the total number of enplaned and deplaned passengers, with transit passengers counted only once, reflect continued growth in global aviation. IGIA’s rise in rank comes amid a consistent uptick in both domestic and international air traffic through the capital.

Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in the United States retained its position as the busiest airport globally, handling over 10.8 crore passengers. It was followed by Dubai International Airport (9.23 crore), Dallas/Fort Worth in the US (8.78 crore) and Tokyo Haneda (4th), London Heathrow (5th), Denver (6th), Istanbul (7th), Chicago O’Hare (8th) and Shanghai Pudong (10th).

As per The Economic Times, ACI’s report noted that global passenger traffic in 2024 hit a record high of 9.4 billion, an 8.4% jump from 2023 and 2.7% above pre-pandemic figures. The top 20 airports collectively managed 1.54 billion passengers, accounting for 16% of total global air traffic.

The Economic Times highlighted that six of the top 20 airports were in the United States, with New York’s JFK being the only one primarily handling international traffic.

Delhi also saw gains in aircraft movements, climbing to the 15th position globally with 4.77 lakh aircraft movements in 2024 - a two-rank jump from the previous year. Once again, Atlanta topped this category with 7.96 lakh movements. Overall, aircraft movements worldwide totalled 100.6 million last year, a 3.9% increase over 2023, reaching 96.8% of 2019 levels.

ACI represents more than 2,180 airports across 170 countries and territories.