Busiest Airport in the World 2020 – Some Surprising Results

Let’s face it, 2020 was a year where airports were like something from a zombie movie. Quiet and eerie, and very lacking in travelers.

However, despite the pandemic taking its toll on airline travel numbers around the world, there were still some very busy airports in the world in 2020. (Not considering the smallest airports of course!)

Of course, during the “shutdown” months from February-June a lot of airports were very empty, but this usually picked up later in 2020.

However, some airports which rely on international visitors like Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing and a few others saw dramatic drops in passenger numbers!

The big winners were the countries with huge domestic populations that could still (or did anyway) travel like China, Europe and the USA.

Which Were The Busiest Airports in 2020?

The following were the ten busiest airports in the world in 2020, despite the downturn in passenger numbers.

1. Baiyun International, Guangzhou, China – 43.8 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
2. Hartsfield-Jackson International, Atlanta, USA – 42.9 million passengers (Source: AJC)
3. Baoan International, Shenzhen, China, 37.9 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
4. Beijing Capital International Airport, Beijing, China – 34.5 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
5. Xianyang International Airport, Xian, China – 31.1 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
6. Haneda Airport, Tokyo, Japan – 31.0 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
7. Pudong International, Shanghai, China – 30.5 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
8. Los Angeles Airport, Los Angeles, USA – 28.8 million passengers (Source: LAWA)
9. * O’Hare International Airport, Chicago, USA – 28.6 million passengers ( Source: Fly Chicago)
10. Istanbul Ataturk International Airport, Istanbul, Turkey – 23.4 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
11. Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France – 22.3 million passengers (Source: ADP)
12. Heathrow Airport, London, UK – 22.1 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
13. Benito Juarez International Airport, Mexico City, Mexico – 22 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
14. Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, Phoenix, USA – 22 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
15. Xinzheng International Airport, Zhengzhou, China – 21.4 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
16. Jeju International Airport, Jeju, South Korea – 21.0 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
17. Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, Netherlands – 20.9 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
18. Sao Paulo Guarulhos International Airport, Sao Paulo, Brazil – 20.3 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
19. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, USA – 20.1 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
20. Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Russia – 19.8 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
21. Huanghua International Airport, Changsha, China – 19.2 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
22. Frankfurt International Airport, Frankfurt, Germany – 18.8 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
23. Dubai International Airport, Dubai, UAE – 17.9 million passengers (Source: Gulf Business)
24. Gimpo International Airport, Seoul, South Korea 17.4 million passengers (Source: Gulf Business)
25. Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, Istanbul, Turkey – 17.2 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
26. Barajas Airport, Madrid, Spain – 17.1 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
27. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Florida, USA – 16.5 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
28. Domodedovo International Airport, Moscow, Russia – 16.4 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
29. Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, Minnesota, USA – 14.9 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
30. Wayne County Airport, Detroit, USA – 14.1 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
31. El Prat Airport, Barcelona, Spain – 12.7 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
32. Salt Lake City International Airport, Utah, USA – 12.6 million passengers (Source: Flight Global)
33. Changi Airport,  Singapore – 11.2 million passengers (Source: Business Times)
34. Narita Airport, Tokyo, Japan – 10.5 million passengers (Source: Narita Aiport)

* O’Hare has only report until November 2020 so far