Delhi airport among world's top 10 busiest airports: ACI

New Delhi: Delhi airport has been named among the world's top 10 busiest airports for 2023 in a list topped by Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

The Indira Gandhi International Airport in the national capital is ranked tenth while Dubai and Dallas airports are at the second and third positions, respectively, according to the Airports Council International (ACI) World.

Releasing the list on Monday, the ACI also said the global total passenger forecast for 2023 stands close to 8.5 billion (850 crore), reflecting a remarkable recovery of 93.8 per cent from pre-pandemic levels and 27.2 per cent higher than 2022.

"Notably, international traffic recovery drew nearer to that of domestic traffic, emphasising its essential role in propelling the industry's resurgence and expansion," it said.

Among the top 10 busiest airports, five are in the US.

At the tenth place, Delhi airport handled more than 7.22 crore passengers in 2023. In 2022, the airport was at the ninth position.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is on top and it handled over 10.46 crore passengers last year. It is followed by Dubai Interntional Airport, which saw more than 8.69 crore passengers, and Dallas Forth Worth International Airport. The latter handled over 8.17 crore passengers in 2023.

Others in the list are London's Heathrow airport (4th spot), Tokyo's Haneda airport (5th), Denver International Airport (6th), Istanbul airport (7th), Los Angeles International airport (8th) and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (9th).

The passenger number for an airport includes emplaned and deplaned passengers, and those who transited have been counted once.

"The top 10 airports representing close to 10 per cent of global traffic (806 million passengers), witnessed a gain of 19.8 per cent from 2022 or a gain of 0.7 per cent vis-a-vis their 2019 results (801 million pax in 2019)," ACI said in a release.

In terms of aircraft movements (landings and takeoffs) also, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was on top.

ACI is a trade association of the world's airports.