Airports Council International (ACI) World has published its annual World Airport Traffic Dataset, revealing the magnitude of the aviation industry's recovery and confirming the global air traffic rankings for the full year 2021.
"Following the release of preliminary data earlier in the year, we are pleased to share ACI's complete annual World Airport Traffic Dataset," said Luis Felipe de Oliveira, ACI World director general, noting that the data remains the authoritative source for global air transport demand across major city markets and also the principal industry reference for air traffic rankings by type and region.
In its new data, ACI World confirmed that Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) regained its title as the world's busiest cargo airport in 2021, after it dropped to second the year prior due to the wide-ranging impacts of Covid-19.
Memphis International Airport (MEM) — home to the FedEx Express global hub — took the second spot after dislodging HKIA in the top spot in 2020.
Chicago O'Hare jumped seven spots in ranking
"Hong Kong (HKG 5.0 million metric tonnes, +12.5%) regained top rank from Memphis (MEM, 4.5 million metric tonnes, -2.9%) who inched back to second position, followed by Shanghai (PVG, 4 million metric tonnes, +8.0%) in third," ACI World said.
Compared to pre-pandemic levels, it noted that the biggest jump in the top 20 rankings was recorded for Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD), which improved its position by seven spots, from 18th in 2019 to 11th in 2021.
The global trade representative of the world's airport authorities said air cargo volumes for the period increased by 15.4% year-over-year (+4.5% versus 2019), to a record 125 million metric tonnes in 2021.
Air cargo volumes in the top 20 airports, representing around 44% (54.8 million metric tonnes) of the global volumes in 2021, gained 14.7% in 2021 year-over-year or 13.4% versus 2019.
ACI said the gain can be attributed to improved economic conditions that drove an increase in demand for consumer goods and pharmaceutical products (such as personal protective equipment and vaccines).
For the period, ACI noted that 2021 global aircraft movements are close to 74 million, representing a gain of 18.7% from 2020 results or -28.2% versus 2019.
The top 20 airports, representing 12% of global traffic (8.7 million movements), witnessed a gain of 27.9% from their 2020 results or a drop of 15.7% vis-à-vis their 2019 results (10.3 million in 2019).
2021: Beginning of aviation industry recovery
"2021 represents the beginning of the aviation industry's recovery. While some of the perennial busiest airport leaders have re-joined upper ranks, other regions struggle to recover leading to new entrants in the top 20," ACI's de Oliveira said.
"With many countries taking steps towards the return of a certain normality, lifting almost all the health measures and travel restrictions as supported by science, we welcome the continuation of air travel demand’s recovery in 2022, despite certain headwinds," the ACI chief added.
The World Airport Traffic Dataset is the industry's most comprehensive airport statistics dataset featuring airport traffic for over 2,600 airports in more than 180 countries and territories.
It provides a view of air transport demand across the world’s airports in three areas: passengers (international and domestic), air cargo (freight and mail) and aircraft movements (air transport movements and general aviation).