Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) recently became the busiest airport in the world for aircraft operations — with planes coming in and out of the gateway carrying medical equipment and supplies as the world continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

Anchorage airport is the US' second busiest cargo airport, only next to Memphis International Airport, and the fifth in the world. But flight tracking website FlightRadar24.com said it snagged the title as world's busiest airport for aircraft operations on Saturday, April 25.

"On Saturday, ANC was the world’s busiest airport for aircraft operations. This points to how significantly the global aviation system has changed and highlights the significance of our role in the global economy and fight against the COVID-19 pandemic," the airport tweeted.

https://twitter.com/ANCairport/status/1254927411931607040

Airport manager Jim Szczesniak reportedly attributed the increase in aircraft operations to freight services related to COVID-19 response.

"We're pretty much on the front lines of the battle against [COVID-19] with all the aircraft coming in here, with basically the medical equipment that's going back and forth and supplies," Szczesniak said according to KTVA. "Our cargo numbers have been really, really strong."

He noted that so far "there's more airplanes in the air going between Anchorage than there are between London and Dubai combined."

Anchorage airport handled more than 5.6 million passengers in 2018. The airport also saw 2.79 million metric tons of air cargo during 2018 accounting for about 70% of the airport's business.

It is the world's fifth busiest air cargo airport ahead of Dubai International Airport (DXB), Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF), Tokyo Narita International Airport (NRT), Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE), and Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) as of 2018.