It’s final: Atlanta remains the world’s busiest passenger airport for another year.
More than 101 million passengers passed though Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in 2015, an increase of 5.5% over 2014, according to Airports Council International’s 2015 World Airport Traffic Report.
The report, which was released Friday, credited the Atlanta airport’s location as a major connecting hub and port of entry into North America for its continued dominance. Atlanta is within a two-hour flight of 80% of the United States population of more than 300 million people, the report noted.
While Beijing has long nipped at the heels of the Atlanta airport, which has held the top spot for 18 years, the Chinese capital’s airport came in second place again with 89.9 million passengers (a 4.4% increase).
The overall news is also good for the world’s airports.
Worldwide passenger traffic increased 6.4% in 2015 to almost 7.2 billion, with increases in all the world’s six regions: Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America-Caribbean, Middle East and Africa.
Worldwide cargo traffic, including mail, rose 2.6%.
The world’s largest air cargo hub remains Hong Kong, China. The US city of Memphis, Tennessee, took the second spot, followed by Shanghai, China.
While geopolitical unrest, terrorism and physical capacity could become challenges to future growth, “history supports the long-run resiliency of the industry where connecting people, places, cultures and commerce is paramount in the shared mission of the aviation community,” said Angela Gittens, director general of ACI World.
ACI’s figures and percentages from the annual report are based on data from more than 2,300 airports in 160 countries worldwide.