World’s busiest passenger and cargo airports in 2023 – a deeper dive

All the evidence is in, and Airports Council International has been able to calculate the world's leading airports by passenger numbers and freight volume carried in 2023.

In this report statistics for 2022 and pre-pandemic year 2019 are also contrasted.

There are no great surprises where the leading airports are concerned, whether they be passenger or cargo-oriented (and there are nine airports in both 'Top 20' tables).

What is particularly notable is how domestic demand in the US continues to influence positioning in what is a global table, (and also how parcel shipping does the same in the cargo table); how there are some small but significant shifts in the balance of power in the Middle East; how China's significance has reduced overall, while Delhi's airport creeps up the rankings; how legacy airports in Europe still cling on to past glories, and how e-commerce retail shipments are keeping Asia Pacific airports at the top of the cargo table.

As ever, CAPA - Centre for Aviation has tried to dive deeper into the meaning of all this, rather than just regurgitating the figures.