JUST THE FACTS : World’s Busiest Airports

Atlanta’s Hartsfield airport last year for the first time handled more passengers than Chicago’s O’Hare, claiming the No. 1 spot. The top 20 in 1998:

Rank/Airport/Annual passengers (in millions)

1. Atlanta (Hartsfield)..............73.5

2. Chicago (O’Hare)..................72.5

3. Los Angeles.......................61.2

4. London (Heathrow).................60.7

5. Dallas/Fort Worth.................60.5

6. Tokyo.............................51.2

7. Frankfurt, Germany................42.7

8. San Francisco.....................40.1

9. Paris (Charles de Gaulle).........38.6

10. Denver...........................36.8

11. Amsterdam (Schiphol).............34.4

12. Miami............................33.9

13. Newark, N.J......................32.5

14. Phoenix (Sky Harbor).............31.8

15. Detroit (Metro)..................31.5

16. New York (Kennedy)...............31.4

17. Houston..........................31.0

18. Minneapolis/St. Paul.............30.3

19. Las Vegas (McCarran).............30.2

20. Seoul (Kimpo)....................29.4

Source: Airports Council International