Orlando cracks list of world’s top 10 busiest airports as U.S. leisure traffic soars

Travellers test in for a Southwest Airlines flight at Orlando International Airport in Orlando, Florida, U.S., October 11, 2021. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Image

April 11 (Reuters) – Orlando cracked a list of the world’s leading 10 busiest airports by travellers for the very first time final calendar year, as the residence of the Walt Disney Globe and Common Studios Florida theme parks joined largely American hubs as soaring leisure travel underpins a restoration in targeted visitors.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Global Airport topped the rankings by passenger targeted traffic revealed Monday by Airports Council International (ACI), which is based mostly on a preliminary compilation of 2021 world-wide details.

The report also ranked airports by cargo volumes and plane movements.

Although the United States has observed the swiftest and strongest restoration in vacation, fueled by leisure visits to places like Florida, it however trails 2019 traffic stages.

According to FlightAware info for March 6 to 13, U.S. commercial flights were down practically 18% when compared with the exact time period in 2019. By distinction, global traffic was down just about 27%.

With 40.4 million passengers, Florida’s Orlando Global Airport ranked seventh in 2021, just forward of China’s Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, and breaking into the leading 10 for the to start with time since knowledge was accessible in 1991, ACI instructed Reuters.

Even though China remains an aviation powerhouse the country’s worldwide borders remained shut in 2021. Domestic targeted visitors fell owing to the country’s zero-COVID plan which meant a series of outbreaks that are little by planet specifications led to stringent inner vacation controls, dampening need.

A spokeswoman for the Larger Orlando Aviation Authority said the airport is anticipating larger visitors in 2022 as worldwide and business travel return in bigger quantities.

The rankings “notify the story of an encouraging development of recovery, with most of the recurrent busiest airports pre-COVID-19 back at the leading,” ACI World Director Typical Luis Felipe de Oliveira reported in a statement.

Traffic at the best 10 busiest airports in 2021 represented about 463 million passengers or almost 10% of world wide site visitors, ACI said.

Reporting By Allison Lampert in Montreal More reporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney Enhancing by Andrea Ricci

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