ATL yet again is soaring above its competition, with bragging rights secured for another year.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is yet again the world’s busiest, welcoming 104.7 million passengers in 2023, according to preliminary figures released by Airports Council International.
The nine-digit total — ATL is still the only airport ever to have crossed that threshold — was not exactly news, as officials announced in January that traffic had grown 11.7 percent to put the airport back over the 100 million mark for the first time since the pandemic of 2020.
But the ACI numbers confirmed that ATL had surpassed any would-be challengers and remains in a class by itself. Rounding out the top five in the world were Dubai, Dallas, London Heathrow and Tokyo Haneda.
The City of Atlanta operates the airport through its Department of Aviation, with General Manager Balram “B” Bheodari having taken the helm in 2021. Mr. Bheodari said an emphasis on teamwork had helped the airport stay at the “pinnacle of global aviation. Every takeoff, every landing, and every passenger served is a chapter in our ongoing story of success and service.”
Mayor Andre Dickens said in a news release that the perennial milestone continues to show Atlanta’s cultural and economic impact in the U.S. and beyond, praising the city’s “collective spirit.”
“It is a testament to our global connectivity and an affirmation of our city’s place on the world stage,” the mayor said in a news release.
Regularly named the most efficient airport in the world, ATL in March won the an airport service quality award as “Best airport over 40 million passengers in North America.”
In late March, the airport announced that it would shut down the Airport MARTA Station for six weeks for renovations ending May 19. Those using MARTA to travel to the airport should allow 30 additional minutes, officials said, to transfer to shuttles between College Park Station and the North Terminal.
ATL hit a record 12.8 million international travelers in 2023, still relatively small as a proportion of the overall traffic but finally approaching the potential 13 million envisioned when the Maynard H. Jackson Jr. International Terminal was opened in 2012.
Learn more: Back to Nine Digits: Atlanta Airport Eclipses 100 Million Passengers for First Time Since Pandemic
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