The International Airports Council (ACI World) recently released the preliminary ranking of the world’s busiest airports in 2024. The report highlights that while some airports have demonstrated resilience in the face of global challenges, including Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), others have struggled to cope with the geopolitical challenges.
LAX did not make it into the top ten in terms of total passengers, international passenger numbers, and cargo volume. However, in terms of aircraft movements, LAX still made it into the top ten, ranking seventh, but showing a significant decline compared to its fourth-place ranking in 2019. In 2019, LAX was the third busiest airport globally in terms of total passengers.
In 2024, domestic flights arriving at LAX decreased by over 8.63% from the previous year. While international flights arriving at LAX increased by over 3.81%, this was a rebound from a significant decline in arrival flights during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the latest data from the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), in February 2025, LAX’s mail cargo volume decreased by nearly 11% compared to the previous year, and cargo volume decreased by 11.21%.
In 2014, all airlines at LAX served approximately 70.66 million passengers. However, in 2024, this number dropped to only around 37.107 million passengers, just over half of what it was a decade ago.
The non-profit organization Visit California, supported by public funds, has also tracked the decline in passenger numbers at LAX. The organization points out that transportation disruptions due to wildfires were a significant reason for the 3% year-on-year decrease in passenger volume from 2024 to 2025. However, this does not explain the overall trend of declining passenger volume at LAX for at least a decade.
In January this year, the total number of passengers at major airports in California was 15.7 million, with 78% being domestic passengers. The report from Visit California indicates that the total number of boardings and deplanings at California airports decreased by 0.2% compared to a year earlier.
Unlike LAX, other airports in California experienced growth. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) saw a 11.3% year-on-year increase in passenger numbers, marking the largest increase in the state; San Diego International Airport (SAN) saw a 4.8% increase in passenger numbers; and Ontario International Airport (ONT) saw a 1.2% increase.
Oakland Airport (OAK) saw the largest year-on-year decrease in passenger numbers, dropping by 18.9%; San Jose Airport (SJC) decreased by 9.5%; and Long Beach Airport (LGB) decreased by 8%.
According to ACI data, the total global passenger traffic in 2024 approached 9.5 billion passengers, a 9% increase from 2023 and a 3.8% increase from pre-pandemic levels.
The top ten busiest airports in the world accounted for 9% of global passenger traffic (855 million passengers), an 8.8% increase from 2023 and an 8.4% increase from 2019 (789 million passengers).
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport continued to hold the top spot, followed by Dubai International Airport and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.
Among the top ten airports, Shanghai Pudong International Airport saw the largest increase, moving from 21st place in 2023 to tenth place in 2024. ACI attributes this leap to relaxed visa policies, the resumption and expansion of international flights, operational efficiency improvements, and the recovery in the Asia-Pacific region (particularly in China).
It is projected that the total global passenger traffic will reach 9.9 billion in 2025, a 4.8% increase from the previous year.
In 2024, global air cargo volume increased by 8.4% from 2023 (a 3.9% increase from 2019 pre-pandemic levels), reaching over 124 million metric tons.
The air cargo volume of the top ten airports accounted for nearly 26% of the global air cargo total (32.3 million metric tons), with a 9.3% annual increase compared to 2019 (29.5 million metric tons). Air cargo flows are more concentrated at major airports.
The growth in cargo volume is primarily attributed to strong e-commerce demand, disruptions in maritime shipping, and falling aviation fuel prices.
Hong Kong International Airport remained in the top position, followed by Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Memphis International Airport.