Airports Council International World has published its 2025 rankings of the world’s busiest airports, confirming Hong Kong International Airport as the leading cargo gateway globally once again.
The data shows that global air cargo volumes increased by 2.9% year on year in 2025 to nearly 128.9 million metric tonnes, highlighting the resilience of cargo demand and the ongoing concentration of traffic at a small group of major hubs.
According to ACI, the top 10 cargo airports alone accounted for around 26% of global air cargo traffic.
Hong Kong retained the number one position with 5.07 million tonnes, up 2.7% on the year and 5.4% above 2019 levels.
Shanghai Pudong remained second with 4.10 million tonnes, posting growth of 8.6% year on year and 12.7% over 2019.
Anchorage climbed into third place with 3.85 million tonnes, up 4.2% on 2024 and 40.4% above pre-pandemic levels, underlining the airport’s strategic importance on trans-Pacific routes.
Louisville and Miami ranked fourth and fifth, handling 3.40 million tonnes and 3.13 million tonnes respectively, with both airports recording double-digit growth of more than 13%.
Memphis moved lower in the rankings after a sharp 20.9% decline to 2.97 million tonnes, suggesting a significant shift in integrator-driven traffic patterns.
The rest of the top 10 consisted of Incheon with 2.95 million tonnes, Doha with 2.61 million tonnes, Taipei with 2.50 million tonnes and Guangzhou with 2.43 million tonnes.
The figures underline the continued dominance of Asian and North American hubs in global air cargo, driven by a mix of express traffic, e-commerce and strategic geographic positioning.
ACI’s broader 2025 airport rankings also showed Atlanta retaining the world lead for total passengers, while Chicago O’Hare topped the rankings for aircraft movements.
