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It's official: Atlanta remains 'busiest airport on the globe'

Ben Mutzabaugh
USA TODAY
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International has retained its title as the "world's busiest airport" for the 17th year in a row in 2014. But Chicago O'Hare may have an argument for a split title.

That's according to the figures out Monday from the trade group Airports Council International (ACI).

LISTThe world's 10 busiest airports (2014)

Atlanta's 96 million passengers last year put it at the top of the list for "total passengers," the traditional measure for determining the world's busiest airport. Beijing came in at No. 2 with 88 million passengers for 2014. Those two airports maintained their rankings from 2013, though Beijing narrowed the gap between it and front-running Atlanta.

But don't be surprised if the folks at Chicago O'Hare still brag that they're No. 1.

That's because the "world's busiest" designation can be determined by two methods: either by the total number of annual passengers or by the total number of annual "aircraft movements" -- or a count of takeoffs and landings. For much of the past decade, Atlanta has ranked No. 1 in both categories.

But Chicago O'Hare has officially overtaken Atlanta in 2014 in terms of flight operations, according to the new ACI figures out this week. O'Hare had 881,933 "total movements," edging ahead of Atlanta and its 868,359 "movements." Preliminary figures out earlier this year sparked discussion about a split title.

Many industry observers consider passenger counts – not flights – to be the best barometer in saying which airport is the world's "busiest." Even ACI itself declared Atlanta the "busiest airport on the globe" as the 2014 numbers became official.

Regardless of the differing counts, ACI said 2014 was a robust year for air travel.

"Passenger traffic remained resilient in the face of the global uncertainties that beleaguered many economies in 2013 and 2014," Angela Gittens, ACI Director General says in statement.

"International tourism, in particular, was irrepressible in 2014 considering the geopolitical risks that have persisted in certain parts of the world, such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East," Gittens adds. "The Ebola outbreak also presented significant challenges to the aviation sector. Notwithstanding, by and large, the international traveler in 2014 appears to have been immune to these potential dangers.

The new numbers also indicated a shakeup within the United States, where Los Angeles surged passed Chicago O'Hare to take the No. 2 spot. Chicago O'Hare placed third in the USA – and No. 7 in the world – with 70 million passengers.

Chicago had been the world's fifth-busiest airport in 2013. And, even though the airport's passenger count grew 4.5% year-over-year, faster growth at LAX and Dubai helped them move past O'Hare.

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