LAX is once again one of the five busiest airports in the world.
After a down year of travel in 2020 that saw the airport fall out of the top ten list of busiest airports, the airport bounced back as more people felt comfortable traveling once again in 2021.
LAX rose ten spots from No. 15 to No. 5 according to new figures released Monday by Airports Council International.
More than 48 million passengers flew out of LAX in 2020, which was a 67% increase from the previous year, according to the annual ranking.
The drop in total passengers in 2020 was directly linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw fewer travelers across the country and world as a whole.
“LAX continues to welcome more and more people back through its doors, and we expect to continue this rise in passenger numbers as international and business travel increase this year,” Los Angeles World Airports CEO Justin Erbacci said in a news release.
LAX also maintained its spot in the top ten among all airports in the world for total air cargo. The airport was No. 8 in both 2020 and 2021, according to ACI. The coronavirus pandemic had a much smaller impact on air cargo flights, experts said.
Regaining the top spot as the world’s busiest airport was Atlanta Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, which has historically seen off the most travelers in the world. In 2020, the Atlanta airport was usurped by the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in China.
Below is a list of the top 10 busiest airports in total passengers for 2021:
PASSENGERS*
| 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | Airport | 2021 | % change vs 2020 | % change vs 2019 |
| 1 | 2 | 1 | ATLANTA GA, US (ATL) | 75 704 760 | 76.4 | -31.5 |
| 2 | 4 | 10 | DALLAS/FORT WORTH TX, US (DFW) | 62 465 756 | 58.7 | -16.8 |
| 3 | 8 | 16 | DENVER CO, US (DEN) | 58 828 552 | 74.4 | -14.8 |
| 4 | 13 | 6 | CHICAGO IL, US (ORD) | 54 020 399 | 75.1 | -36.2 |
| 5 | 15 | 3 | LOS ANGELES CA, US (LAX) | 48 007 284 | 66.8 | -45.5 |
| 6 | 18 | 34 | CHARLOTTE NC, US (CLT) | 43 302 230 | 59.2 | -13.4 |
| 7 | 27 | 31 | ORLANDO FL, US (MCO) | 40 351 068 | 86.7 | -20.3 |
| 8 | 1 | 11 | GUANGZHOU, CN (CAN) | 40 259 401 | -8.0 | -45.1 |
| 9 | 3 | 24 | CHENGDU, CN (CTU) | 40 117 496 | -1.5 | -28.2 |
| 10 | 22 | 30 | LAS VEGAS NV, US (LAS) | 39 754 366 | 78.6 | -23.1 |
INTERNATIONAL PASSENGERS*
| 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | Airport | 2021 | % change vs 2020 | % change vs 2019 |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | DUBAI, AE (DXB) | 29 110 609 | 12.7 | -66.3 |
| 2 | 6 | 14 | ISTANBUL, TR (IST) | 26 466 169 | 66.0 | -33.1 |
| 3 | 2 | 3 | AMSTERDAM, NL (AMS) | 25 488 783 | 22.1 | -64.4 |
| 4 | 5 | 8 | FRANKFURT, DE (FRA) | 22 697 490 | 34.8 | -64.0 |
| 5 | 4 | 6 | PARIS, FR (CDG) | 22 616 995 | 18.7 | -67.6 |
| 6 | 7 | 15 | DOHA, QA (DOH) | 17 701 978 | 41.4 | -54.4 |
| 7 | 3 | 2 | LONDON, GB (LHR) | 17 624 931 | -14.7 | -76.8 |
| 8 | 31 | 26 | ANTALYA, TR (AYT) | 17 148 111 | 160.4 | -40.3 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | MADRID, ES (MAD) | 15 337 775 | 38.8 | -65.9 |
| 10 | 28 | 61 | CANCÚN, MX (CUN) | 13 261 951 | 94.5 | -19.7 |
For more information about the yearly list of busiest airports, click here.