We are delighted to present the World's Busiest Airports of 2023, powered by OAG's Global Airline Schedules Data. The data is for the whole year of 2023 (January to December) and includes comparison to 2022 and 2019. Discover the busiest global, international, European and US airports this year.

• The busiest international airport of 2023 is Dubai International Airport (DXB) with 57 million seats, DXB was also the busiest international airport in 2022 and 2019. Here is a quick breakdown of seats for each of those years:
  • 2019: 53,983,247 
  • 2022: 45,279,877 
  • 2023: 56,504,042
• London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is in second place with 47 million seats which is similar capacity to 2019 but an increase of 24% compared to 2022.
• Amsterdam Airport (AMS) is the third busiest international airport with 37.2 million seats, airline capacity at AMS 10% less compared to 2019 levels.
• Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) is in fourth with 36.7 million seats, 11% lower than 2019 levels.
• Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN), in 7th place, is the only Asian airport to be ranked in the top 10 busiest international airports for 2023; it did not make the top 10 in 2022 (ranked in 26th place), and in 2019 it was in 5th position. 
• In 2023’s Top 10 Busiest International Airports, Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN) has had the largest decrease in airline capacity compared to 2019 capacity levels, with seats dropping by 20%.
• Two airports in the Top 10 Busiest International Airports for 2023 where not in the Top 10 in 2019, these are:
  • Doha (DOH), 9th place in 2023 and 13th in 2019
  • Madrid Adolfo Suarez-Barajas Airport (MAD), 10th place in 2023 and 14th in 2019 

  Here's a closer look at the airline capacity data at these airports, including % change comparison to the years 2019 and 2022: 

• 2023’s Busiest Airport in Europe is London Heathrow Airport (LHR) with 49 million seats, this is a decrease of 2% compared to 2019 capacity levels, and an increase of 23% year-on-year. Here is a quick breakdown of seats for each of those years:
  • 2019: 50,170,007 
  • 2022: 40,040,736 
  • 2023: 49,370,859
• Istanbul Airport (IST) is the second busiest airport in Europe - adding 10% more airline capacity than 2019 and 19% more than 2022 - with 46 million seats this year. 
• Istanbul Airport (IST) is the only airport to have capacity above 2019 levels in the European Top 10 ranking. 
• Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) occupies third place with 40 million seats, dropping airline capacity by 10% compared to 2019. 
• Amsterdam Airport (AMS) is in fourth place with 37 million seats, representing a 17% reduction in capacity compared to 2019. 
• Munich Airport (MUC) has had the biggest decrease in airline capacity compared to 2019 levels, seeing a 26% reduction of airline capacity at the airport.

Listed below are the number one busiest airports in each region. This is calculated by the airport's total seats (domestic and international scheduled airline capacity) for 2023. Full top 10 rankings for each of these regions, plus further breakdowns, alongside the global busiest international and domestic airport rankings, is free to download - just click on the yellow button below for instant access.

SEATS

The Top 10 Busiest Global Airports in the World are calculated using total airline capacity (domestic and international flights). The Top 10 Busiest International Airports are calculated using international airline capacity only. The rankings are based on scheduled one-way airline capacity for the year 2023. Historical capacity data for 2019 and 2022 have been included for comparison. The annual Busiest Airports report is collated from the monthly Busiest Airports reports, which are sourced from OAG's Schedules Analyser in the first week of each month.