O'Hare Just A Tad Less Busy

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Mar 18, 2010 2:40PM

The 2009 numbers are in and Chicago's O'Hare Airport has been bumped down a spot to fourth place on the "busiest airports in the world" list by Beijing, the only one of the top four airports in the world that saw an increase in passengers last year. Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson remained first with 88 million passengers (down 2.3 percent) followed by London Heathrow with 66 million (down 1.5 percent). Beijing Capital International Airport had 65.3 million passengers, an increase of 17 percent over 2008, while O'Hare saw 64.4 million passengers, a decline of 8.8 percent. O'Hare's decline was also the largest among the world's top 20 airports. Part of the decline is being blamed on cuts by United and American Airlines, the two biggest carriers out of the airport.