Atlanta Airport still NO.1

Latino2002

Bronze
Jan 1, 2002
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[More passengers traveled through Hartsfield in 2001, but more planes moved in and out of O'Hare, according to the latest tally from the Airports Council International-North America.

That assures Hartsfield its No. 1 position for passenger traffic -- 75.8 million travelers -- and moves O'Hare back into place as the busiest, with 911,000 of what the ACI-NA calls "total movements" -- aircraft landings and take offs.

The difference lies in cargo carriers and aircraft size. But the locations of the airports themselves, as well as which airlines are bunking there, makes a huge difference.

It helps O'Hare, for example, that the nation's second-largest airline, United (UAL: news, chart, profile), is based in Chicago and that No. 1 carrier, American (AMR: news, chart, profile), has a major hub in the Windy City. But both of those carriers have hubs elsewhere, and split up their flights between Denver, for United, and Dallas, for American.

Delta Air Lines, on the other hand, calls Atlanta home and routes nearly all its flights through that city. What's more, it's a gateway for the carrier's international travel.

"As far as fortress hubs go, (Delta's) is a mega giant one," said Alex Zaslov, senior manager of economic affairs and research for ACI-NA.
 
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