It’s official. CLT ranks the seventh busiest airport worldwide and nationwide for arrivals and departures, according to Airports Council International (ACI) 2022 final rankings, which were released this month.
Preliminary rankings were made public in early spring. For passenger traffic the Airport lands at 10th nationwide and 19th globally.
Charlotte Douglas handled 505,589 arrivals and departures last year and served nearly 48 million passengers, which is a 10% jump from 43 million passengers in 2021 and only 5% below the record-breaking 50 million passengers in 2019.
CLT expects a full recovery from the pandemic in 2023, one year earlier than previously forecasted.
Mid-year numbers show from January through June 2023 the Airport served 25.5 million passengers, which is up 4% from the 24.6 million who flew to, from and through Charlotte Douglas during that same time in 2019.
International travel from January to June 2023 also jumped 13% from 2019 and rose 36% over 2022.
The Airport remains a top economic driver for the Tar Heel State. Earlier this year, the North Carolina Department of Transportation released its biannual economic impact report showing CLT contributed $32 billion to the state’s economy in 2021. CLT also produced 5% of the state’s gross domestic product, created $1.82 billion in tax revenue, supported 151,575 jobs and generated $9.9 billion in personal income.