DFW International Airport was the world’s second busiest air travel hub for passengers in 2021, even though traffic was still far behind pre-pandemic levels, and trailed only Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
DFW soared last year on the strength of U.S. domestic leisure travelers with 62 million passengers, leapfrogging other airports in the country such as Los Angeles and Chicago O’Hare that rely on international passengers for a larger percentage of traffic, according to Airports Council International.
DFW’s passenger count improved by 59% from 2020, but it was still about 17% lower last year than it was in 2019, the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic that decimated the air travel business.
Globally, airport traffic suffered greatly in 2021 compared to pre-pandemic years. The overall number of passengers was down 50% from 2019. However, global aviation leaders have high hopes as countries such as the United Kingdom and New Zealand have dropped travel restrictions this year.
“Although we are cautious that recovery could face multiple headwinds, the momentum created by reopening plans by countries could lead to an uptick in travel in the second half of 2022,” ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira said in a statement.
Last year, DFW benefited from the strategy of Fort Worth-based American Airlines, which has emerged as the world’s largest carrier over the last two years and has leaned more heavily on its largest hub at DFW. Seven out of eight passengers flying through DFW do so on American, according to the airport.
The seven busiest airports in the world were all in the United States, with Denver placing third and followed by Chicago, Los Angeles, Charlotte and Orlando. China’s Guangzhou was the busiest airport outside the United States with 40.2 million international passengers.
DFW is still suffering in international passengers, even with an explosion in tourists to Mexico destinations such as Cancun. There were 6.1 million international passengers traveling from, to and through DFW in 2021, compared to 9.6 million in 2019.
Dubai and Istanbul were the busiest international airports, with 29 million and 26 million foreign-bound visitors respectively. DFW has direct flights to each of those airports on Emirates and Turkish Airlines.
North Texas’ smaller airport, Dallas Love Field, had 13.5 million passengers in 2021.
Back in 2019, before the pandemic disrupted air travel, DFW International was the world’s 10th busiest airport, according to ACI. Airports that were formerly in the top 10, such as London Heathrow, Beijing Capital and Shanghai, have fallen out.
Through the first two months of 2022 for which DFW has released passenger statistics, volumes are already up more than 50% from last year with about 9 million passengers in January and February. In 2019, there were about 10.6 million passengers in January and February.
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