It’s not your imagination. Charlotte’s airport is one of world’s busiest this summer.
If you thought Charlotte’s airport has been really busy this summer — especially compared to other airports recovering from the coronavirus pandemic — you’re not wrong.
In fact, Charlotte Douglas International Airport has ranked in the top five busiest airports in the world in number of flights for most of the year, recent rankings show.
And in June, CLT was the second busiest airport in the world in number of flights, according to flight statistics website Information Design.
The airport, with more than 21,000 flights, was ranked behind only Atlanta that month.
That’s the first time CLT has ranked in the top two worldwide, based on Information Design data, website CEO Benjamin Walther told the Observer. The site does not have reliable data for 2020 due to the pandemic, however, he added.
In July, CLT was ranked fifth busiest in all the world, behind Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth and Denver.
This could be a record year for CLT if it stays in the top five — the airport has never ranked higher than sixth busiest in the world on annual rankings, according to airport officials.
American Airlines, the dominant airline at the Charlotte airport, was ranked the busiest airline in the world by flights in both June and July.
No European or Middle East airports made the top 20 list in June, as those countries continue to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, according to Information Design. In July, the Istanbul airport was the only European country to make the list, placing at 16th in the world.
Charlotte has previously been ranked as one of the busiest airport’s in the U.S.
Last year, the airport was ranked sixth nationwide in both aircraft movements and total passengers by the Airports Council International, according to CLT.
A steady rise in the rankings
Like other airports, the Charlotte airport saw a steep dive in passenger traffic in early 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. But in recent months, passengers have returned to the airport in droves.
And even during last year, CLT ranked in the top 20 biggest airports in the world in terms of passenger numbers, according to Information Design.
The airport was ranked 18th worldwide in number of passengers last year — up 16 spots from 2019. The jump in ranking came even as Charlotte saw a 46% decrease in passenger numbers, reporting 27.2 million passengers last year, according to the ranking site.
The airport had to get creative with revenue and budget cuts to survive the pandemic, Aviation Director Haley Gentry said in a report on the airport’s performance in 2020.
“It paid off in the end,” she said. “CLT is among the fastest airports in the country to recover and remains one of the most cost efficient and busiest hubs in the world.”
Airport crowds return
In the summer months, Charlotte’s passenger numbers have neared pre-pandemic levels, according to data released by the airport.
In June, the most recent month of passenger data available, more than 2.1 million people boarded planes at Charlotte’s airport — a big increase from 783,600 people in June 2020, according to CLT numbers.
June’s total in 2021 was not far off from the total number of passengers boarding planes at CLT for the same month in 2019 — before COVID-19. That month, almost 2.2 million people boarded planes at CLT.
And 2021 is already on track to be a record-setting year for CLT in at least one aspect: number of guns found at TSA security checkpoints.
TSA agents had found 62 guns at Charlotte checkpoints by early August. That’s on track to pass 2018’s record of 76 firearms, TSA spokesman Mark Howell told the Observer.
Passengers heading to the airport this month will see changes to the entrances and exits. On Wednesday, the airport closed several doors, opening new entrances and exits and the airport’s new pedestrian bridge.
The changes come as the airport moves to a new phase of its $608-million terminal lobby expansion project.
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