Johannesburg’s OR Tambo was ranked the seventh-busiest airport in the Middle East and Africa in 2024, according to a report by aviation analytics firm, OAG. With global and regional rankings, OAG based its calculations on one-way airline capacity (both international and domestic).

In the Middle East and Africa, Dubai International Airport claimed the top spot with 60,2 million seats in 2024 and ranked second globally. This was followed by Doha’s Hamad International Airport with 32.4 million seats, and Jeddah with 29.7 million seats.

OR Tambo operated 12,2 million seats, 4% more than in 2023 but still 18% behind pre-COVID 2019 levels.

The rest of the top ten in the Middle East and Africa were:

1. Riyadh King Khalid – 23,2 million seats
2. Cairo International – 18,7 million seats
3. Zayed International – 17,1 million seats

1. Addis Ababa – 12 million seats
2. Kuwait – 10,9 million seats
3.  Sharjah – 9,1 million seats

Four of the top 10 busiest global airports were in the US last year, with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport being named the busiest airport in the world for the second year in a row, having handled 62,7 million seats in 2024.

The top ten busiest global airports of 2024 were:

1. Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International – 62,7 million seats
2. Dubai International – 60,2 million seats
3. Tokyo International (Haneda) – 55,2 million seats
4. London Heathrow – 51,55 million seats
5. Dallas Fort Worth International – 51,51 million seats
6. Denver International – 49,2 million seats
7. Guangzhou Baiyun – 48,8 million seats
8. Istanbul – 48,51 million seats
9. Shanghai Pudong International – 48,5 million seats
10. Chicago O'Hare International – 46,9 million seats