The 10 busiest airports in the world: Atlanta extends its streak, O'Hare makes big gains

The numbers are in … and once again, it's Atlanta.

In 2025, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) earned the title of the busiest airport — not just in America, but in the world.

It's the 27th time in 28 years that the Georgia hub, home base to Delta Air Lines, has been able to make that claim.

That's according to the annual rankings out Tuesday from Airports Council International, which runs down the top 10 busiest airports in the world based on the number of passengers that passed through the previous year.

ATL has occupied the mantle for most of this century — and did again in 2025 despite Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD) stealing many of the headlines in recent months amid a rapid build-up in flights offered by two major airlines. (More on that below ...)

That build-up in air service did see ORD rise to be America's third-busiest airport in 2025, trailing only ATL and American Airlines' Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) megahub.

Elsewhere in the world, Dubai International Airport (DXB) maintained its runner-up status on the global stage, and the Tokyo hub most convenient to the city center, Haneda Airport (HND), earned a spot on the proverbial podium.

What is the busiest airport in the world?

Here's a rundown of the world's 10 busiest airports.

Shanghai's PVG made the biggest gains in 2025, jumping from 10th-busiest in the world to a top-five finish.

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O'Hare also jumped two spots, with the big increase in flights leading to 6% more passengers passing through its terminals last year, versus 2025.

ORD did lead the world in one category: the total number of takeoffs and landings, which spiked by nearly 11% versus the prior year.

And that lead was likely set to widen in 2026 as top carriers United Airlines and American added flights at a rapid pace in recent months, amid an escalating aviation turf war. The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to intervene, though, to avoid congestion and — ultimately — flight delays.

Other rankings of note: London's Heathrow Airport (LHR) fell from fifth-busiest in the world to seventh, and Denver International Airport (DEN) dropped from sixth place to 10th.

DXB, LHR and Seoul's Incheon International Airport (ICN) led all global hubs when measured by the number of international passengers that passed through last year.

Busiest airports in America, ranked

As noted above, four airports in America finished among the world's top 10.

That means the four-busiest airports in America last year were:

1. ATL
2. DFW
3. ORD
4. DEN

Atlanta extending its lead as the busiest airport in the world — and in America — was helped by Delta growing its total departures from the hub by more than 6% in 2025, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

However, as TPG reported earlier this year, a recent pullback at ATL by perennial second-place finisher Southwest Airlines has given the airport a new de facto No. 2 airline.

That label last year belonged to budget carrier Frontier Airlines.

TPG's aviation managing editor Ben Mutzabaugh broke down this shake-up in a post you'll find exclusively on our Substack channel, Talking Points.

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