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Atlanta Airport Likely to Reclaim Spot at Top for Flight, Passenger Volume

Posted on: Wednesday, 4 January 2006, 09:00 CST

By Kirsten Tagami, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Jan. 4--Atlanta should soon reclaim the distinction of having the world's busiest airport -- in terms of flights as well as passengers.

In recent years, Hartsfield-Jackson International and Chicago's O'Hare International split the title: Atlanta had the most passengers, while Chicago had the most flights. But now, for the first time since 1999, Atlanta appears set to take the top spot in both categories.

Numbers released Tuesday by the Federal Aviation Administration show Atlanta had 980,197 flight operations last year, surpassing O'Hare's 972,246. Delta Air Lines has been adding flights in Atlanta, while the FAA last year had airlines reduce O'Hare schedules to cut down on delays.

Final passenger numbers won't be out until February, but Atlanta is expected to keep the title in that category. It projects 88.4 million airport users in 2005, up from 83.6 million a year earlier, said spokeswoman Charisma Cannon. Hartsfield-Jackson has been busiest in passengers for several years.

"Being the busiest airport in the world is another measure of the economic impact this airport makes on the state of Georgia and the Southeast," said airport General Manager Ben DeCosta.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

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