Atlanta airport retains title as world's busiest
Atlanta airport retains title as world's busiest; passenger traffic made 2012 its busiest ever
ATLANTA (AP) -- Atlanta's airport is keeping its title as the world's busiest.
Passenger traffic increased by more than 3.1 million passengers in 2012 -- making 2012 the busiest year ever for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, airport officials said Tuesday.
The 2012 total of 95.5 million passengers is 3.35 percent higher than the previous record of 92.4 million passengers, set in 2011, authorities said.
"Hartsfield-Jackson remains the busiest airport in the world in terms of passengers and operations," said Louis Miller, the airport's aviation general manager.
The airport's annual air cargo decreased by about 2.5 percent - from 663,162 in 2011 to 646,481 metric tons in 2012. The decline in cargo operations reflected a global decrease of consumer purchases and reduced manufacturing, airport officials said.
December's passenger traffic increased by 3.19 percent over December 2011 - from 7.21 million to 7.44 million. Aircraft operations decreased slightly by .82 percent over the same period - from 74,513 to 73,899. Air cargo decreased by 5.05 percent over that period - from 57,095 to 54,212.
