Top Airports for International Traffic– a Power Shift Reflection?

In January 2014, where are the busiest airports with the most international traffic?

In days of old one might have listed London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Rome the like.  

According to Fortune magazine, London (Heathrow) is still the top global airport for international travellers. But who’s No. 2?

Dubai.

Dubai?

Yes, this Middle Eastern airport was way down on the international food chain just a decade or so ago. But with a 13% increase in international travel to the Middle East region (and considerable thanks in part to a $7.8 billion expansion – have to spend those oil profits somewhere), Dubai, together with a few other wealthy Arab nations, vaulted up over several more venerated Flughafen to capture the Numero Duo post.

Further, experts now expect Dubai push aside the dignified Angleophile favorite by 2018, replacing London as the top international passenger Aéroport.

European favorite Paris comes in at No. 3, but then one has to go all the way around the world to Hong Kong, who weighs in (no more landing between skyscrapers though) at No. 4.

We go back to Europe for No. 5 Amsterdam and No. 6 Frankfurt (portal to European trade shows ad infinitum). Spin the globe again back to the island nation Singapore for No. 7, then skip over for some hot tom kha gai soup to Bangkok for No. 8. The last two spots in the global top ten are Incheon, South Korea at No. 9, and back to Europe again for No. 10 at Madrid Spain.

If you’ve read this far, you might be asking: where’s the U.S. airports ranked for international travel? Perhaps surprisingly, New York’s Kennedy cames in at a disappointing No. 17, while Miami barely makes the Top 30 at No. 26.

Now you might be asking, where do Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Seattle come in at?  Uh, none of them made the top 30 for international travel. While international travel through southern Arab states skyrocketed over the past decade, Fortune magazine notes that North American global air traffic only grew a paltry 1.3%.