Worldwide passenger traffic through airports has risen close to 5 per cent to more than six billion with Atlanta still the world's busiest.
Airports Council International has released the latest edition of the world airport traffic report covering 2000 airports in 160 countries which shows traffic in emerging markets and developing economies growing faster (8.7 per cent) than in advanced countries (1.8 per cent) in 2013.
"With many major economies remaining in a fragile state, 2013 can best be characterised as a year of unstable recovery for the global economy," said Angela Gittens, director-general of ACI World.
"The opportunities that lie ahead for aviation are numerous, particularly in emerging markets," she said.
Overall, worldwide airport passenger numbers increased by 4.6 per cent last year to 6.3 billion, registering increases in all six regions.