OAG reveals the busiest global, international and European airports

busy airport GettyImages-1080086010

London Heathrow features in all three lists

Data platform for the global travel industry OAG has revealed the world’s busiest airports.

Global airports

The top 10 busiest global airports by seats – calculated using total frequency of domestic and international – are:

  1. Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International
  2. Dubai International
  3. Tokyo International (Haneda)
  4. London Heathrow
  5. Dallas Fort Worth International
  6. Denver International
  7. Istanbul
  8. Chicago O’Hare International
  9. Los Angeles International
  10. Guangzhou.

Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport remains the busiest airport, while the composition of the top 10 is the same as the previous month, but there have been some order changes.

Istanbul had the biggest drop in seats per day – decreasing by six per cent – moving the airport from fifth place last month to seventh place in October.

Guangzhou also dropped from seventh place to 10th place in the same time period, losing five per cent of seats.

Dallas Fort Woth International had the biggest increase in seats per day – a three per cent increase – moving it up to fifth place.

International airports

The top 10 busiest international airports – calculated by international seats only – are:

  1. Dubai International
  2. London Heathrow
  3. Amsterdam
  4. Paris Charles de Gaulle
  5. Singapore Changi
  6. Seoul Incheon International
  7. Istanbul
  8. Frankfurt International
  9. Doha
  10. Hong Kong International.

The top spot is retained by Dubai International, with 4.9 million seats in October. London Heathrow is the second biggest international airport with 4.1 million seats – 19 per cent less capacity than Dubai International.

Seoul Incheon International has added the most international capacity this month compared to last month with an additional 187,349 seats – an extra three per cent of seats per day. Hong Kong International has also added three per cent of seats per day, reflecting the recovery after the return of international travel to Asia.

European airports

In Europe, the top 10 busiest European airports by seats – calculated by domestic and international frequency – are:

  1. London Heathrow
  2. Istanbul
  3. Paris Charles de Gaulle
  4. Frankfurt International
  5. Amsterdam
  6. Madrid Adolfo Suarez-Barajas
  7. Barcelona
  8. Rome Fiumicino
  9. Munich International
  10. London Gatwick.

London Heathrow continues to be the busiest airport in Europe with 4.4 million seats in October 2023. However, the gap between London Heathrow and Istanbul has become slightly bigger – eight per cent this month compared to three per cent last month. This is due to a fall in capacity at Istanbul.

The only change in this month’s ranking is London Gatwick moving to 10th place, while Munich International rose to ninth place.