Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson: World's Busiest Airport

The World's Busiest Airport

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (IATA: ATL) has been the world's busiest airport by total passenger count for 25 consecutive years, handling 104.7 million passengers in 2023. The figure exceeds the combined populations of most European countries passing through a single terminal complex annually. Atlanta's position as the busiest airport is a direct function of Delta Air Lines' dominant hub operation, which uses ATL as its largest connecting hub — the airport from which Delta operates the greatest number of daily departures of any in its global network.

The airport sits 18 kilometres south of downtown Atlanta in Clayton and Fulton counties. It was built on the site of an old motor speedway and expanded incrementally from a regional airport into the world's busiest, with the current terminal complex largely dating from a 1980 renovation that introduced the Plane Train underground transit system — at the time a revolutionary approach to inter-concourse movement that has since become the model for virtually every large hub airport built globally.

Despite its extraordinary volume, ATL is not a celebrated airport in terms of passenger experience. The Skytrax ranking places it outside the global top 50, and American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) scores for ATL are typically below the US average for large airports. The gap between operational performance — Delta's on-time record is strong at ATL — and experiential quality reflects the difficulty of providing a premium environment when 300,000 passengers transit the space on a peak summer day.

The Plane Train and Concourse Layout

The Plane Train is an underground automated people mover (APM) that connects the main terminal to six concourses — T, A, B, C, D, and E — in a straight line running north to south beneath the airfield. The APM runs continuously with trains arriving every two to three minutes throughout the day, and the journey from the main terminal to Concourse E, the furthest concourse, takes approximately five minutes. This journey covers approximately 2 kilometres of underground distance that would take 25 minutes to walk via the parallel pedestrian tunnel.

Each concourse is a self-contained pier extending perpendicular to the Plane Train axis. Concourse T is the domestic concourse adjacent to the main terminal building; Concourses A through D are domestic concourses handling Delta's extensive domestic hub operations; Concourse E is the international concourse handling all of ATL's international departures through an integrated international terminal facility added in 1994. The gate assignment for any given flight determines which concourse a passenger needs, and the Plane Train makes the journey between any two concourses straightforward regardless of the distance involved.

Navigation above the Plane Train is less intuitive. The main terminal — confusingly called the "Domestic Terminal" even though it houses international check-in — is divided into North and South terminals with separate entrances from the hourly parking structures. The North Terminal entrance serves Delta's check-in; the South Terminal entrance serves all other airlines. MARTA (Atlanta's rapid transit system) has its airport station at the South Terminal entrance, making the rail connection accessible but awkward for passengers checking in at the North Terminal, who must either walk through the building or take a shuttle bus.

Delta's Hub Dominance

Delta Air Lines accounts for approximately 75 percent of all departures at ATL, a concentration that makes Atlanta more dependent on a single airline than any other major US hub. The airline operates two daily connection banks from Atlanta that are among the most complex scheduling operations in global aviation: a morning bank collects arrivals from the East Coast and Southeast, redistributes passengers to the South, West, and International gates, and launches them on the next leg; an afternoon bank repeats the process in reverse. The efficiency of this wave structure is the reason Delta consistently achieves load factors above 85 percent on most Atlanta routes — the bank timing ensures that almost every seat is occupied by a connecting passenger rather than an origin-destination traveller.

Delta's Sky Clubs at Atlanta are among the most heavily used airline lounges in the US and have historically suffered from severe overcrowding during peak morning and evening banks. Delta began enforcing tighter access restrictions in 2024, limiting access to credit-card-only members who pay the highest annual fee tiers and restricting entry during peak periods for passengers with more than three hours until departure. The policy change improved conditions inside the clubs but generated significant customer backlash from travellers who had come to rely on Sky Club access as a routine part of their ATL connection.

Dining and the Concourse Food Scene

ATL's airside food offer reflects Atlanta's emergence as a significant American culinary city, with several concourse concepts drawing on the city's food culture. Concourse B houses a Paschal's, the legendary Atlanta soul food institution whose College Park location opened in 1947 and became a gathering point during the civil rights movement. The airport location serves Paschal's fried chicken, collard greens, and cornbread at prices slightly above the original restaurant's but well below the premium that most airports charge for heritage brands.

Concourse C features One Flew South, which since its 2009 opening has been cited in multiple food and travel publications as the finest full-service restaurant at any US airport. Its menu is a genuine fine-dining offer — not airport casual — with an emphasis on fresh Gulf seafood, a serious wine list, and service that matches a city restaurant. The kitchen sends genuine dishes rather than simplified versions of real dishes, and the prices reflect this: a meal at One Flew South costs USD 60–90 per person including wine, which is appropriate given the quality delivered.

Beyond these highlights, the concourses contain a dense network of quick-service options representing both national chains and Atlanta regional brands. The food court area between Concourses D and E has been expanded and renovated and now includes a reasonable selection for the 300,000 daily passengers who need to eat quickly. Concourse E, the international terminal, has a separate food hall with slightly better options than the domestic concourses, reflecting the longer dwell times of international passengers waiting for transoceanic departures.

MARTA and Ground Transport

The MARTA Red and Gold Lines connect ATL's South Terminal directly to downtown Atlanta (Five Points station) in approximately 20 minutes for USD 2.50 flat fare — one of the best-value airport rail connections in the United States. The same train continues north to Buckhead (Atlanta's primary hotel and upscale shopping district) in a further 10 minutes, and to the Lenox Square mall area in 15 minutes from downtown. For the vast majority of business travellers heading to midtown or downtown Atlanta hotels, MARTA is faster and far cheaper than any surface transport option during business hours.

Taxis from ATL to midtown Atlanta are metered and typically cost USD 35–45. Ridesharing via Uber and Lyft operates from a designated pickup lot accessed from the baggage claim level of both terminals; wait times during peak hours can be 10–20 minutes. The hotel shuttle corridor at the airport serves the cluster of hotels immediately adjacent to the airport — Hyatt Regency, Marriott, Renaissance, and Westin all have properties within a 5-minute shuttle ride of the terminal — which is convenient for overnight layovers before early departures.