India's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) emerged as the ninth busiest airport in the world in 2022 with passenger traffic of more than 5.94 crore, Airports Council International (ACI) said on Wednesday.
The Delhi airport is the only airport to figure in the top 10 list from South and South East Asia. It witnessed a collective footfall of passenger traffic of over 5.94 crore in 2022.
Delhi airport has bettered its ranking from 13th in 2021 and 17th in 2019. This time, the airport is ahead of France's largest airport - Charles de Gaulle in Paris.
Hit by Covid-induced lockdowns, air traffic surged last year. The ACI said 2022 global passenger traffic reached close to 7 billion, representing an increase of 53.5% from 2021, or a 73.8% recovery from 2019.
America's Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta airport was the busiest airport with traffic of 93.7 million passengers. It was followed by Dallas airport (73.4 mn), Denver airport (69.3 mn), and Chicago O'Hare airport (68.3 mn).
In the list, the biggest jump in the top 10 was recorded for London's Heathrow airport. The airport improved its ranking from the 54th position as borders reopened in March 2022 after two years of closures.
The UK-based air transport rating organisation Skytrax recently ranked Delhi airport as the best in India and South Asia. Delhi airport last year stood at the 37th rank in the list of the World's Top 100 Airports.
In March, the Delhi airport was declared the cleanest in India and South Asia region by ACI. Besides Delhi, India's Tiruchirappalli International Airport was rated the best in the Asia Pacific in the category of under 2 mn passengers.
The airport said it was proud of the achievements it bagged at the Skytrax Awards 2022-23. DIAL said the IGI airport was certified as a 4-star rated for its excellence on indicators like cleanliness, comfort, staff service, and immigration.