Airports Council International (ACI) have released their annual rankings into the world's busiest airports.

For the third successive year, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in the US holds the title of the busiest airport in the world. The four-terminal, four-runway airport handled over 89 million passengers during 2007.

Second busiest was Chicago O'Hare, which handled 76 million passengers. The world's third busiest airport was London Heathrow, with 68 million passing through.

The next busiest airports, in order of passengers passing through, were Tokyo, Los Angles, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Dallas Fort-Worth.

As announced in January by ACI, the world's fastest growing airport in 2007 was Dubai International, which last year handled 34 million passengers - an increase on the previous year of 19%.

Another strong performer was Madrid-Barajas Airport in Spain, which jumped three places on the 2006 ACI rankings to become the world's 10th busiest airport. The growth of Beijing and Singapore was also reflected by their top-20 rankings in the survey.

Global Air Passenger Numbers Increase

ACI also announced that the world's air passenger numbers increased during 2007.

Last year, a total of 4.5 billion people flew on domestic and international passenger flights. Cargo and freight flights grew by 3.8%.

Particular growth areas were the Middle East, where passenger numbers grew by 16%, as well as Asia and Africa.

ACI's Director-General, Robert Aaronson, said that even in spite of economic uncertainty which developed during the second half of last year, 2007 was a "banner year" for commercial aviation.

In addition to highlight what he called "the remarkable spurt of growth" in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, Aaronson also pointed out that traffic in the "mature markets" of North America and Europe was still very strong.

There were 1.6 billion passengers in North America, and over 1.3 billion in Europe.

ACI: 2008 Air Passenger Figures May Decrease

In presenting the figures, the ACI was quick to counsel caution.

The organisation said that when released next year, the 2008 air passenger figures may show a decrease in the number of flights being taken.

Aaronson said: "2008 may present a much more sedate picture", noting that continuing economic issues around the world - including slowdown in some areas - as well as growing fuel costs and currency fluctuations will probably affect demand.

"We will be carefully watching the monthly traffic results during the first half of 2008 to see if persistent economic and business trends are developing that could have a lasting impact on demand," Aaronson said, adding: "In a potentially volatile environment, it is all the more critical for airports, air navigation service suppliers and airlines to work closely together to anticipate real growth needs and plan accordingly for a sustainable future".

Source - Airport International's Aviation Correspondent

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