Top 20 cargo airports: Steady as they go

Airports Council International’s latest dataset reveals air cargo volumes climbed 9.9% year on year to 127m tonnes in 2024

Airports Council International (ACI) World has released the 2025 Edition of its World Airport Traffic Dataset, which reveals the world’s busiest airports in 2024. There are no big surprises – just cautious confidence.

ACI World director general Justin Erbacci says the rankings “reflect the scale of global aviation and the resilience of the industry that continues to grow, despite the complex global environment”.

In terms of air cargo, traffic rebounded with close to 127m metric tonnes handled in 2024 – up 9.9% year over year and 4.1% higher than the volume moved in 2019.

The top 20 cargo hubs handled 52.2m tonnes last year, up 9% from 2023 and 10.8% above pre-pandemic levels.

Erbacci observes: “Concentration remains very high. In 2024, the top 20 airports handled about 42% of world cargo, nearly identical to 2023. When extended to the top 30 airports, they processed 65.5m tonnes – about 52% of the global total of 126.5m tonnes.”

This highlights that global cargo continues to cluster around a small group of airports that act as integrator superhubs, transhipment gateways, or key export nodes, he says.

“While regional hubs in Latin America and Africa are growing, the overall market structure remains highly consolidated,” he adds.

Key drivers of air cargo growth in 2024 included maritime route volatility, which led shippers to seek more reliable and faster alternatives via air.

“Security risks in the Red Sea disrupted Suez Canal traffic, which normally carries 12-15% of global trade,” Erbacci explains.

“Between November 2023 and February 2024, transits fell by more than 55%, forcing carriers onto longer Cape of Good Hope routes. The delays and higher costs pushed high-value or urgent goods into air freight, especially benefiting Middle Eastern and European hubs.”

The second major driver was the acceleration of e-commerce, driven by consumer demand for faster fulfilment across borders, ACI World says.

Erbacci describes cross-border e-commerce as “a structural growth driver”. In the US, he says, the number of e-commerce users is projected to rise from 254m in 2023 to over 316m by 2028.

“Asia Pacific also exemplifies this trend, with its 15.3% cargo growth in 2024 linked strongly to e-commerce exports, particularly from China and Southeast Asia. Together, these factors underpin steady baseline demand for integrator hubs,” he sums up.

The third factor that promoted air cargo growth last year was falling jet fuel costs, which lowered operating expenses and improved airfreight competitiveness.

Highlights

There weren’t many surprises in the 2024 dataset, as results tracked expected structural dynamics and regional growth patterns, Erbacci says.

In 2024, Middle East cargo rose by 17%, partly pushed by disruption to sea cargo routes. Dubai International jumped from 17th to 11th place in the ACI rankings, making it the biggest mover among the top 20 cargo airports.

Dubai International handled 2.2m tonnes of cargo during 2024, up 20.5% on the previous year’s total.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, highlighted the Dubai Economic Agenda D33’s targets of becoming one of the world’s top five logistics hubs and doubling foreign trade by expanding connections to 400 new cities globally.

Asia Pacific volumes increased by 15.3%. Shanghai Pudong advanced to second place globally, handling 3.78m tonnes (+9.8%) as China’s exports rebounded.

At Shanghai’s Pudong and Hongqiao airports, combined cargo and mail throughput rose by 11% year on year in 2024 to 4.2m tonnes, according to figures released by the Shanghai Airport Authority.

A statement attributes the growth to the addition of increased flights, including to and from countries participating in China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Shanghai is strengthening its international cargo connectivity with the establishment of overseas cargo stations in Ethiopia and Mexico, through a collaboration between Shanghai Pudong International Airport Cargo Terminal Co Ltd, Ethiopian Airlines Group and Lufthansa Cargo.

The stations at Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa Bole International Airport and Mexico City International Airport will “facilitate the development of the dual circulation strategy through more convenient logistics services”, according to Shanghai Airport (Group) Co Ltd.

The 40,000 sq m Ethiopian overseas cargo station is projected to handle more than 600,000 tons of cargo per year, while the 10,000 sq m station in Mexico is expected to handle over 100,000 tons annually upon completion.

Hong Kong, which regained its number one position with 4.9m tonnes (+14% and surpassing 2019 levels), is also looking outward.

As of March 2025, HKIA is connected to 58 airports in 36 Belt and Road countries – and in September, Airport Authority Hong Kong exchanged Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) to share experience and expertise, as well as enhance connectivity, with Shymkent Airport in Kazakhstan and the Uzbekistan Airports Joint Stock Company, which manages all 11 international and eight domestic airports in Uzbekistan.

The increase in cargo traffic in 2024 was mainly attributed to exports, which rose by 20.2% compared with 2023. HKIA says the most significant increases occurred in traffic to and from key trading regions in Europe, North America and Middle East.

Elsewhere, Europe rose by 9.7%, the Latin America & Caribbean region was up 6.9%, and Africa traffic increased by 6.5% – while North America grew by just 2.8% compared to 2023.

East Asian hubs and US integrator hubs dominate the top tier, Erbacci notes.

On the other hand, he adds: “Africa’s volumes are expanding but remain concentrated in five countries (South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria), with no single airport yet reaching the global top 20. This reflects scale rather than weak performance, since Africa is still on a growth trajectory.”

Momentum

Erbacci says: “We are cautiously confident. Global cargo reached a record 126.5m tonnes in 2024, up 9.9% year on year and 4.1% above 2019 levels. The recovery was supported by revived trade, e-commerce expansion, and even sea-air shifts linked to maritime disruption.

“Importantly, this momentum has continued: in the first half of 2025, total volumes were about 5% above 2019, showing that the rebound is more than a one-off.”

Regionally, Latin America grew by 8% year over year, with Colombia and Brazil leading. In Africa, Egypt posted modest growth (up 3%), while South Africa contracted (down 12%), reflecting domestic logistics constraints.

One question that arises with regard to first-half volumes is whether the increase represents a trend that will continue through the rest of 2025 and beyond, or simply reflects a tendency to ‘front load’ in anticipation of the various trade tariffs that have been implemented over the course of the year.

For instance, as reported by ACN in September, the China-to-US lane faces tariffs of 30% or more, and May saw the end of the de minimis exemption for low-value e-commerce shipments.

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, which had seen substantial growth in 2023 on the back of e-commerce traffic, recently celebrated the grand opening of F&F LLC’s new 80,000 sq ft cargo facility, marking the first development at the CVG Global Logistics Park.

While Cincinnati serves as a major hub for Amazon Air and DHL Express, the new F&F facility expands the airport’s general airfreight capabilities.

“This is exactly the kind of growth we’ve been working toward in order to diversify the cargo side of our business,” says Lisa Sauer, chair of the Kenton County Airport Board.

At the same time, regions such as Latin America are benefiting from the de minimis changes as shippers and their service providers look to develop more opportunities outside the US.

Volatility remains

Erbacci believes three main themes will shape the outlook. First, sea-air dynamics: the Red Sea/Suez situation remains “pivotal”, and any escalation could reinforce modal shifts to air, while normalisation would rebalance flows.

Second, e-commerce: sustained growth is keeping parcel-driven hubs like Louisville, Anchorage and Miami busy, while Asia Pacific exporters continue to benefit from online retail demand.

Third, infrastructure: major projects such as Dubai World Central, expansions at Shanghai and Incheon, and Mexico’s Felipe Angeles International Airport are “altering the global cargo map” and will influence hub strategies and network choices next year.

Based on current trends, ACI World expects Asia Pacific and US hubs to remain dominant – with East Asia’s exports and US integrator activity reinforcing their lead. Middle Eastern hubs are set to climb further as they capture sea-air volumes and expand infrastructure.

Erbacci considers: “The biggest challenges remain external: tariffs and trade policies affecting flows, and geopolitics shaping sea-air substitutions. Structurally, demand remains strong.

“That said, the outlook depends heavily on geopolitics and trade policy. Tariffs, regional instability, or maritime disruptions could all shift flows quickly. Structural drivers like e-commerce and supply chain diversification give us confidence in medium-term growth, but volatility will remain.”

Source: Air Cargo News

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