Los Angeles International Airport surpassed Tokyo’s major airport to move up a notch to the No. 4 spot on the list of the world’s busiest airports as ranked by 2018 passenger traffic, according to a report released March 13.
The annual rankings from Airports Council International also had LAX moving up three notches to No. 10 for cargo tonnage.
For passenger traffic, LAX grew 3.5 percent last year to reach 87.5 million, surpassing Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport, which grew 2 percent to reach 87.1 million.
“Los Angeles is a leading international destination for commerce and leisure travel, and the continued growth of passenger and cargo traffic in 2018 further affirms the importance of our global airport,” Deborah Flint, chief executive of Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that operates LAX, said in a statement.
The rankings of the remaining top 10 airports by 2018 passenger traffic remained unchanged from 2017, with Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport topping the list at 107.4 million, followed by Beijing’s Capital International Airport at 100.9 million and Dubai International Airport at 89.1 million.
On the cargo side, LAX grew 2.4 percent to reach 2.2 million metric tons, which resulted in LAX leapfrogging Singapore’s Changi Airport and Frankfurt Airport to reach the No. 10 slot.
Hong Kong International Airport topped the cargo list at 5.1 million metric tons, with Memphis International Airport (home to FedEx Corp.’s global hub) coming in at No. 2 with 4.5 million metric tons.
Education, energy, engineering/construction and infrastructure reporter Howard Fine can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @howardafine.
