Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson reclaims title of world's busiest airport

After falling to second place last year, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is back to being the world’s busiest airport.

• The rankings, released this week by Airports Council International, are based on 2021 passenger traffic.

Why it matters: An increase in airport traffic helped Atlanta rebound from its 2020 ranking of No. 2 during the height of pandemic-induced pandemic restrictions.

By the numbers: Hartsfield-Jackson racked up nearly 76 million passengers last year, a 76.4% increase from 2020.

Of note: The 2021 number is 31.5% less than the airport’s last first place ranking in 2019.