Global aviation organization Airports Council International (ACI) has released its World Airport Traffic Report for 2010, with London, Paris and Hong Kong taking out the first three places in terms of international passenger traffic.
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| The Heathrow headache. 60.9 million interntional passengers per year, or 167,000 per day, kind of explains it |
According to the report, worldwide airport passenger numbers increased by 6.6 percent in 2010 to 5.04 billion. Worldwide domestic traffic increased by 5.8 percent while international traffic jumped by 7.7 percent.
London's Heathrow airport remained the busiest in the world, handling over 60 million international passengers. The big mover was South Korea's Incheon, which moved into the top ten in 2010. Madrid fell out of the top 10, Incheon moved into 8th place and Tokyo dropped from 8th in 2009 to 9th.
1. London (Heathrow), United Kingdom: 60.9 million passengers per year
2. Paris, France: 53.15 million
3. Hong Kong: 49.77 million
4. Dubai, UAE: 46.31 million
5. Frankfurt, Germany: 46.3 million
6. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: 45.13 million
7. Singapore: 40.92 million
8. Incheon, South Korea: 32.94 million
9. Tokyo (Narita), Japan: 32.16 million
10. Bangkok, Thailand: 31.41 million
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When it comes to overall passenger numbers -- domestic and international -- the ACI list takes a different shape, dominated by U.S. facilities.
1. Atlanta, USA: 89.33 million
2. Beijing, China: 73.94 million
3. Chicago, USA: 66.77 million
4. London (Heathrow), UK: 65.88 million
5. Tokyo (Haneda), Japan: 64.21 million
6. Los Angeles, USA: 59.07 million
7. Paris, France: 58.16 million
8. Dallas, USA: 56.9 million
9. Frankfurt, Germany: 53 million
10. Denver, USA: 52.2 million
The list also detailed the fastest growing airports (with more than 5 million annual passengers):
1. Istanbul, Turkey
2. Campinas, Brazil
3. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
4. Charleroi, Belgium
5. Moscow (Sheremetyevo), Russia
6. Belo Horizonte, Brazil
7. Bogota, Colombia
8. Phuket, Thailand
9. Shanghai, China
10. Muscat, Oman
