Incheon Int'l Airport becomes world's No. 2 in cargo handling

WASHINGTON -- Incheon International Airport, the main gateway to South Korea, became the world's second-busiest cargo airport in 2021, up one notch from the previous year, a trade body said Monday.

Incheon International Airport handled 3.23 million tons of international cargo, up 18.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Airports Council International (ACI).

The airport, some 40 kilometers west of Seoul, ranked third in the world in terms of international cargo handling in 2019 and 2020.

Hong Kong International Airport on Chek Lap Kok Island retained its top spot by processing 4.98 million tons last year, up 12.8 percent from the previous year.

Shanghai Pudong International Airport dropped one notch to third over the cited period, followed by Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Narita International Airport of Japan.

Meanwhile, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was the busiest airport in the world in terms of passenger traffic in 2021, with 75.7 million people using the airport.

Dubai International Airport handled the largest international passenger traffic of 29.11 million last year, up 12.7 percent from a year earlier and retaining the No. 1 status.

Global passenger traffic came to 4.5 billion last year, up 25 percent from the prior year but about half the 2019 level before the outbreak of COVID-19, according to the ACI. (Yonhap)