Passenger Traffic Reaches Record High in 2023

Charlotte Douglas International Airport served more than 53 million passengers last year, 12% more than 2022 and a 6% jump over the pre-pandemic travel record set in 2019.

“The growth we are experiencing is a perfect storm of multiple factors,” said CLT Chief Executive Officer Haley Gentry. “It’s a unique time in history.”

During the pandemic when air travel stalled, American Airlines concentrated efforts on its two biggest hubs: CLT and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). Other airlines followed suit and invested more in Charlotte. As a result, CLT rose from the 18th busiest passenger airport in the world to the 6th busiest in 2021 according to Airports Council International (ACI). ACI has not released the 2023 rankings.

“The strength of CLT as American Airline’s second largest hub is driving the Airport’s overall growth,” Gentry said. “Charlotte is an efficient spoke in the airline’s hub system. We are critical to their future growth.”

Gentry points to other factors contributing to the Airport’s record-setting year, including changes in how people view business and leisure travel post-COVID. The desire to explore that built up in 2020 created “revenge” travelers, a term used to describe taking a trip that couldn’t happen during the pandemic. Also, working from home started as a public health necessity but as more people discovered they could do their jobs from just about anywhere, it fueled “bleisure” travel, trips that blend business and leisure.

In addition, the Charlotte region is booming with economic development and has one of the fastest growing populations in the nation, increasing the number of local travelers.

And neither Charlotte nor CLT shows signs of slowing down.

“People ask me when construction at the Airport will end. I say, ‘never!’ If we have no construction we have a problem,” Gentry said. One of the big reasons Charlotte Douglas is successful is passenger traffic drives Airport growth. CLT expands to accommodate business that’s already there, not on speculation, she said.

Projects Gentry is excited about for 2024 include the Concourse A Phase II expansion, which will add 10 gates in the fall. Skybridges will open in the newly expanded Terminal Lobby entrance this summer. “To be able to deliver what we’ve been sharing with our customers for numerous years is going to be great,” Gentry said.