Denver And Charlotte Were Airport Traffic Winners In 2021, With Denver Ranked Third In The World

Once again, airports dependent primarily on domestic traffic retained leading spots for overall traffic counts last year. Among the top 10 airports, the big winners were Denver and Charlotte.

Both Denver and Charlotte appear to have retained the spots they reached in 2020, when Denver moved up to number three and Charlotte moved up to number six.

In 2019, before the pandemic altered air travel patterns, Denver was number five and Charlotte was number eleven. In the past few weeks, airports have been reporting full-year 2021 stats.

Denver International Airport served 58.8 million passengers in 2021, the airport reported on Jan. 31. International passengers accounted for just 3% of the total, the airport said.

December traffic was down just 7% from the same month in 2019: for the full year, traffic was down 15% from 69 million, the all-time high reached in 2019. 

“Our large domestic market and robust hub network combined with Denver’s resilient economy make DEN an attractive opportunity for airlines,” said airport CEO Phil Washington, in a prepared statement.

During 2021, three airlines – Frontier, United and Southwest – all had their largest operations at Denver, the airport said. United remained the largest, with a 44% market share, while Southwest was second with 32%. Frontier was third with 11%.

According to traffic stats through October, Denver International ranked as the third busiest airport in the world, behind Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth, DIA reported. Atlanta has been the world’s busiest airport since 1998. Through October, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport had 60.7 million passengers.

Charlotte Douglas reported last week that it served 43 million passengers in 2021, equal to 86% of the record 50.2 million passengers in 2019. International passengers accounted for just 2.7% of the airport’s passengers.

“Our 2021 passenger numbers are pretty impressive considering the twists and turns we’ve experienced over the past two years,” said airport CEO Haley Gentry in a prepared statement.

During the pandemic, hub carrier American Airlines was quick to ramp up service at Charlotte and Dallas, attempting to largely maintain pre-pandemic service levels. Its strategy differed from peers Delta and United, which were more conservative.

However, future Charlotte growth may be constrained because Charlotte is among the top airports for regional jet service, which is being impacted by the pilot shortage. Regional jets accounted for 56% of Charlotte flights in 2020, according to statistics assembled by the Regional Airline Association. That was second among the top ten airports. First was Chicago O’Hare with 62%; third was Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport with 55%.

With regional partners, American carries about 90% of Charlotte passengers. As spring approaches, American has been reducing Charlotte flying.

“American adjusted our April schedule to better align with customer demand and mitigate any future travel disruptions related to near-term pilot staffing challenges at our regional carriers,” the carrier said recently, in a prepared statement.

Here are the numbers for American peak daily Charlotte departures: April, 600; March, 601; February, 617; January 617; December, 554; November, 569. Peak day in the past six moths was Nov.28, with 684 departures.  Total systemwide American daily departures in April will be 5,503, down from 5,767 in March; 5,646 in February and 5,477 in January.

Among other top ten airports, number seven Las Vegas reported that it served 39.7 million passengers in 2021. International traffic accounted for 2%, down from 7.4% in 2019. Number eight Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport reported that it had 38.8 million passengers in 2021. Number eight Orlando has not yet reported. Number ten Seattle reported 32.9 million passengers through November.