World’s top 10 busiest airports in 2025: Dubai International Airport tops the chart, Indian airport ranked 7th

Top 10 busiest airports in the world in December 2025 list: Following a robust recovery in international travel, the latest projections from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) indicate that global air traffic is likely to grow by 5 per cent annually during 2025-26.

With airports becoming crucial connectivity hubs that ensure seamless global travel, Dubai International Airport has once again been ranked as the busiest global airport with 5.50 million seats in December 2025, according to the Official Airline Guide’s (OAG) latest data.

OAG ranks the top 10 busiest global airports worldwide based on the total number of seats from both domestic and international flight frequencies.

Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport follows next with 5.21 million seats — the same as last December — while Tokyo Haneda ranks third with 4.68 million seats, seeing a modest 1 per cent decline.

On the contrary, Guangzhou Baiyun saw a notable rise of 12 per cent, handling 4.43 million seats, placing it in fourth.

Furthermore, Shanghai Pudong increased 7 per cent to 4.32 million seats and rose from 10th to 6th position.

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Meanwhile, Chicago O’Hare re-entered the top 10 from the 12th position, witnessing an uptick of 9 per cent to 4.12 million seats.

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Top 10 busiest global airports by seats in December 2025:

Top 10 Busiest Global Airports - December 2025

Ranked by Total Seat Capacity

1. Dubai Intl —

DXB

5.50M seats

United Arab Emirates

2. Atlanta Intl —

ATL

5.21M seats

United States

3. Tokyo Haneda —

HND

4.68M seats

Japan

4. Guangzhou +5

CAN

4.43M seats

China

5. London Heathrow -1

LHR

4.35M seats

United Kingdom

6. Shanghai Pudong +4

PVG

4.32M seats

China

7. Delhi IGI —

DEL

4.31M seats

India

8. Dallas/Fort Worth -3

DFW

4.29M seats

United States

9. Istanbul Airport -1

IST

4.22M seats

Türkiye

10. Chicago O'Hare +2

ORD

4.12M seats

United States

Source: Official Airline Guide (OAG) | December 2025 data compared to same month 2024

Indian Express InfoGenIE

Which Indian airport is ranked 7th globally?

New Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport

Previously standing at 8th, Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport recorded a 9 per cent increase to 4.31 million seats, now standing as the seventh busiest airport in the world as of December 2025.

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