Airports Council International (ACI) World said air cargo was "less impacted" by the drag of the coronavirus on the aviation industry last year, but the imbalance in the impact and phase of recovery was evident in the shakeup of airport rankings in 2020.

The global trade representative of the world's airport authorities said Memphis International Airport (MEM) dislodged Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) as the world's busiest air cargo hub in 2020 as the new airport traffic rankings also revealed "dramatic" reshuffle in rankings of top airports for passenger traffic.

"Air cargo was less impacted by Covid-19, with volumes decreasing by only -8.9%, to an estimated 109 million metric tonnes in 2020, equivalent to 2016 levels (110 million metric tonnes)," ACI World said.

It noted that air cargo volumes in the top 10 airports — which represents around 28% (30.6 million metric tonnes) of the global volumes in 2020  — even grew by 3% last year due to increase in demand for online consumer goods and pharmaceutical products and personal protective equipment.

"With a +6.7% increase, Memphis International Airport surpassed Hong Kong International Airport," the airport association said. HKG saw a 7.1% drop in volume.

Among the busiest cargo hubs in Asia, HKG slipped to the second spot, Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) remained third, while Incheon Airport (INC) also dropped to the fifth spot from — from fifth in 2019 — as Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) moved up the 6th spot from 9th.

Anchorage rose to 4th from 6th, Louisville, the primary hub of UPS Airlines (from 4th to 5th), Los Angeles (8th from 13th), Doha dropped to 9th from 8th, while Miami bounced to the 10th spot in the world's busiest cargo hub list from holding the 12th place in 2019.

Airport passenger rankings revealed

In terms of global passenger traffic, ACI World's preliminary world airport traffic rankings — also showed "dramatic impact" of Covid-19 on what are ordinarily the world’s busiest airports.

It said global passenger traffic at the world’s top 10 busiest airports decreased by 45.7% in 2020 and overall, passenger traffic at the world’s airports decreased by 64.6%.

"This shows that the impact of the pandemic and the early stages of recovery in air travel has not been uniform around the world."

ACI noted that last year, Guangzhou Bai Yun International Airport in China recorded the most passenger traffic in 2020, edging out Atlanta Hartsfield- Jackson International Airport in the United States, which came behind it.

"Seven of the top 10 airports for passenger traffic are in China with three in the United States. In most cases, domestic air travel is beginning a modest rebound while international air travel remains depressed because of on-going travel restrictions," it added.

"The findings show that the impact remains uneven with different regions experiencing different challenges and requiring different policy decisions and support from governments to lay the foundation for recovery," said ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira.

"With some positive signs of recovery, especially in countries with high rates of vaccination, a sustained global recovery will only be realised with an escalation of vaccination campaigns, the continued development of digital health passes, and coordinated and cohesive policy support from governments," he added.

ACI World also estimates that there were 58 million global aircraft movements in 2020, representing a drop of 43% from 2019.

It said the top 10 airports represent 7% of global traffic (4.2 million movements) and experienced a drop of 34.3% compared to 2019.

Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport surpassed Chicago O’Hare International Airport, after leading in 2019 and 2018.