LAX ranked fifth-busiest airport in the world

Travel rebounded strongly last year, making Los Angeles International Airport the fifth-busiest in the world, according to Airports Council International.

Air travel precipitously in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but jumped 51.8% from 2020, calling it an "encouraging" sign of traffic recovery, the international airports group said.

"LAX continues to welcome more and more people back through its doors, and we expect to continue this rise in passenger numbers as internaitonal and business travel increase this year," Justin Erbacci, CEO of Los Angeles World Airports, said. 

LAX had more than 48 million passengers in 2021, moving the airport up from its number No. 15 spot in 2020. In 2019, LAX was the third-busiest in the world, with 88.1 million passengers passing through.

The busiest airport in the world in 2021 was Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, which saw more than 75.7 million passengers — a 76% jump over 2020. Dallas/Fort Worth International followed was No. 3 in the world, followed by Chicago's O'Hare International.

LAX ranked as No. 8 in the world for air cargo in 2021, with more than 2.6 metric tons of cargo moving through the airport, an increase of 20.7%. In overall aircraft movement, LAX ranked No. 6, with nearly 507,000 aircraft taking off and landing at the airport in 2021.