It’s no secret that the coronavirus pandemic has been turning the travel world upside down and slowing air travel to a grinding halt. But one of the most surprising news bites to emerge from the coronavirus files is that the home to the world’s busiest airport is no longer in Atlanta or New York City or London. As of this week, the newest bustling airport hub is now—stop the presses—in Anchorage, Alaska.
Yes, this past week, the far-flung city Ted Stevens Anchorage Airport (ANC) in Anchorage, a town with just 291,538 residents, became home to the busiest airport on the entire planet, beating out other busy hubs like LAX, Dubai and Hong Kong.
“On Saturday [April 25], ANC was the world’s busiest airport for aircraft operations,” the airport Tweeted. “This points to how significantly the global aviation system has changed and highlights the significance of our role in the global economy and fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.”
So why is Anchorage so popular? Is it that everyone is suddenly planning a trip to the wide-open spaces of Alaska? According to Anchorage airport execs, “ANC was able to achieve the status of number one because of cargo operations, not passenger flights,” the airport pointed out. “While other airlines slashed flights at other airports, ANC was able to maintain and somewhat increase flights thanks to the need for cargo around the world.”
In addition to being the seaplane traffic capital of the world, ANC is usually the fifth busiest cargo airport in the world and the second busiest cargo airport in the United States. This is due to special cargo transfer rights and a location that is equidistant between Asia and North America. And cargo has not been impacted as heavily by coronavirus as passenger travel.
Flying over Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Alaska, which is now the busiest airport … [+]
Ian Petchenik, director of communications at the flight tracking website FlightRadar24.com, told Forbes Women that Anchorage is operating far beyond its normal capacity with a greater load of cargo flights than normal, and the airport also has smaller carriers that aren’t recorded in official flight statistics. (Much of Alaska is only accessible by plane.) According to FlightRadar24.com data, on Saturday, April 25, ANC had 948 aircraft arrivals and departures. Compare that to 682 aircraft arrivals and departures last Saturday at London’s Heathrow airport.
Of course, Anchorage’s new world-dominating position is also a result of the massive impact that coronavirus has had on aviation. According to FlightRadar24.com, total air traffic in April was down 62% from 2019, and commercial traffic was down 73.7%. In April 2020, the busiest day in the sky was 28 April with 80,714 flights (compared to April 17, 2019 with 203,239).
It’s a far cry from last year when—for the 21st year in a row—Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport claimed the title of busiest airport in the world, thanks to 107 million travelers passing through its gates in 2018. Compare that to Anchorage, which usually serves 5 million passengers annually.
This week, the number of flights at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was down 77%, to 570 instead of more than 2,500 flights.
But still, Anchorage is celebrating its newfound position in the aviation world, pointing out that its rise to the top, if even for a brief moment in time, “highlights the significance of ANC now more than ever,” the airport Tweeted.
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