CLT Airport ranked world’s sixth busiest for passengers in 2021

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – Charlotte is now home to the world’s sixth busiest airport for traffic.

That’s according to the Airports Council International 2021 preliminary rankings. The agency’s report stated more than 43 million people traveled through CLT Airport last year. An airport news release noted that is 86% of the record-breaking 50 million passengers in 2019.

The report states Charlotte Douglas International Airport ranked 18th for passenger traffic in 2020, a 59% jump.

CLT ranks the fifth busiest airport worldwide for arrivals and departures and sixth for passenger traffic, according to Airports Council International (ACI) 2021 preliminary rankings.

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— CLT Airport (@CLTAirport) April 11, 2022

“The rankings reflect the important role CLT played in the aviation industry last year as one of the busiest airports in the world,” CLT’s CEO Haley Gentry said in a statement. “Many people were eager to travel by air again in 2021, and we’re happy to partner with the airlines to serve these passengers coming through Charlotte. This year, we are predicting an even stronger 2022 with one of our best summers ever.”

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta took the top spot, with over 75 million passengers in 2021. The top 10 list of the busiest airports for passengers last year can be found here.

Total global passengers in 2021 is estimated to be close to 4.5 billion, representing an increase of almost 25% from 2020, or a drop of more than 50% from 2019 results, according to the ACI report.

CLT officials added that the airport handled approximately 519,895 arrivals and departures in 2021, ranking fifth worldwide.

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