Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta remains the king of North American aviation, and by some distance. New figures compiled from Airports Council International and FAA data put ATL at 106.3 million passengers, keeping it not just the continent's busiest hub but the busiest in the world, even after a slight 1.6% dip year over year. Five parallel runways and Delta Air Lines' enormous flight schedule do the heavy lifting.

The chasing pack is tighter than you might think. Dallas/Fort Worth sits second at 85.7 million passengers, powered by American Airlines' largest hub and a sprawling 26-square-mile site between the two cities. Chicago O'Hare, third at 84.9 million, climbed two spots globally and claims a quirky title of its own: the world's busiest airport by total aircraft movements, with 857,392 takeoffs and landings in the period — a 10.5% jump.

Denver's rise is the story worth watching. At 82.4 million passengers, it has grown nearly 20% since 2019 and now ranks tenth worldwide, helped by its central location and major operations from United, Southwest and Frontier. Los Angeles (73.7 million) and New York JFK (62.6 million) round out the top six, with JFK mid-way through a staggering $19 billion terminal rebuild that includes brand-new Terminal 1 and Terminal 6.

The leisure capitals fill out the list. Orlando (57.7 million) was one of only two top-ten airports to post growth, no surprise given the theme-park traffic and new Terminal C. Miami (55.3 million) stays the main bridge between North America and Latin America and the Caribbean, with American Airlines flying over 350 daily flights there. Las Vegas (55.0 million) saw one of the steepest declines in the top ten — domestic leisure demand cooled — while San Francisco (54.5 million) edged in at tenth thanks to strong transpacific demand, beating Charlotte by fewer than 400,000 passengers.

Why should a traveller care? These rankings shape your routes and your fares. Hub airports like Atlanta and Dallas mean more flight options and easy one-stop connections across the US; Denver's growth is steadily adding alternatives through the middle of the country. In Vegas, the low-cost strength of Southwest and Allegiant keeps fares competitive even in a down year. And if you're flying through JFK, expect construction disruption but a much better airport on the other side of the build-out.

Full credit for the underlying figures goes to Simple Flying.