Dubai International Airport has been confirmed as the world’s busiest international airport for the 11th time in succession. Source: Dubai Airports.

Airports Council International (ACI) World has today (8 July) confirmed Dubai International Airport (DXB) at the summit of the international passenger traffic ranking in 2024.

The release of the 2025 edition of the World Airport Traffic Dataset draws on information from more than 2,800 airports across in excess of 185 countries and territories and follows the release of the preliminary ranking earlier this year.

DXB took the crown for the eleventh year in a row, serving 92.3 million passengers, with London Heathrow (79.2 million) and Seoul Incheon (70.7 million) making up the top three spots.

Indeed, the largest jump goes to Seoul Incheon; having ranking in 32^nd spot in 2022, South Korea’s principal airport surged back into the top 10 in seventh position in 2023 and jumps four places into third in the latest ranking.

Meanwhile, new entrant Hong Kong International Airport secures its spot in ninth place with 52.9 million passengers – a 34.4% increase year-on-year.

European airports made up more than half of the top 20 busiest international airports.

Global passenger traffic reached 9.4 billion travellers in 2024 — up 8.4% from 2023 and 2.7% above pre-pandemic levels (2019).

            Source: ACI World.

The top 20 airports alone processed 1.54 billion passengers, capturing 16% of global traffic.

“These rankings reflect the scale of global aviation and the resilience of the industry that continues to grow, despite the complex global environment,” commented Justin Erbacci, Director General, ACI World.

“In these times of constant change and uncertainty, reliable data like this is necessary to help airports navigate through the increasing headwinds. Our mission is to empower airports with data and intelligence like this report – as well with the tools, support and advocacy they need to thrive in this dynamic environment.”