For one month the title of world’s busiest international airport was held by Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS). However, in October 2021, Dubai (DXB) returned to the top spot.
According to a list of world’s busiest airports, compiled by aviation consultancy OAG, through October DXB served enough international flights to fill over 2,728,700 seats – nearly 300,000 more than AMS.
The list of busiest international airports is calculated by considering only international flights. When it comes to both international and domestic flights, the situation is different.
OAG’s list of top global airports is topped by Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL) with 4,577,768 seats, followed by Chicago O’Hare (ORD) and Dallas Fort Worth (DFW). Dubai (DXB) does not even make the top 10 in this list, as its domestic capacity is nearly non-existent.
OAG says it updates its list of world’s busiest airports every month. The consultancy uses flight schedules to calculate the number of seats on the flights served by the largest airports.
Dubai has been leading various lists of the busiest international airports for years, only occasionally being displaced by other airports.