Busiest airports in South America
What are the busiest airports in South America?
The South American continent consists of thirteen countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela) and a French overseas department (French Guiana). More than 420 million people live in South America, only a small part of them regularly travel by plane. However, the number is growing, just like the number of tourists visiting the continent. The most populated city in South America, São Paulo, has three large airports, one is mainly used for international flights (São Paulo Guarulhos Airport) and two mainly for domestic flights (São Paulo Congonhas Airport and São Paulo Campinas Airport). The same is true for Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires, with the international airport Ministro Pistarini / Ezeiza and the national airport Jorge Newbery / Aeroparque.
Below are the top 20 largest airports in South America. Ecuador’s two main airports, Quito Mariscal Sucre Airport (# 21) and Guayaquil Airport (# 22), are just outside the top 20. The biggest airlines in South America are LATAM Airlines (Chile), GOL Airlines (Brazil), Avianca (Colombia), Azul Airlines (Brazil) and Aerolíneas Argentinas (Argentina).
Top 20 busiest/largest airports in South America, 2019
| Position | Airport | Total passengers |
| 1 | São Paulo Guarulhos Airport (Brazil) | 43,002,119 |
| 2 | Bogota El Dorado Airport (Colombia) | 34,975,009 |
| 3 | Lima Jorge Chávez Airport (Peru) | 25,402,742 |
| 4 | Santiago de Chile Airport (Chile) | 24,630,742 |
| 5 | São Paulo Congonhas Airport (Brazil) | 22,681,392 |
| 6 | Brasília Airport (Brazil) | 16,727,177 |
| 7 | Rio de Janeiro Galeão Airport (Brazil) | 13,507,881 |
| 8 | Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini Airport (Argentina) | 12,706,000 |
| 9 | Buenos Aires Jorge Newbery Airport (Argentina) | 12,312,000 |
| 10 | Belo Horizonte Tancredo Neves Airport (Brazil) | 11,119,878 |
| 11 | São Paulo Campinas Airport – Viracops (Brazil) | 10,585,018 |
| 12 | Medellín José María Córdova Airport (Colombia) | 9,205,009 |
| 13 | Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont Airport (Brazil) | 9,091,258 |
| 14 | Recife/Guararapes Airport (Brazil) | 8,714,119 |
| 15 | Porto Alegre Salgado Filho Airport (Brazil) | 8,314,013 |
| 16 | Salvador Bahia Airport (Brazil) | 7,786,582 |
| 17 | Fortaleza Airport (Brazil) | 7,211,701 |
| 18 | Curitiba Afonso Pena Airport (Brazil) | 6,502,746 |
| 19 | Cartagena Rafael Núñez Airport (Colombia) | 5,663,955 |
| 20 | Cali Airport (Brazil) | 5,527,532 |
Sources:
https://www.gru.com.br/pt/institucional/informacoes-operacionais (São Paulo Guarulhos Airport), http://www.aerocivil.gov.co/atencion/estadisticas-de-las-actividades-aeronauticas/estadisticas-operacionales (Colombia), http://www.corpac.gob.pe/Main.asp?T=5434 (Peru), https://www.nuevopudahuel.cl/aboutsclairport/ (Santiago de Chile Airport), https://transparencia.infraero.gov.br/estatisticas/ (São Paulo Congonhas Airport, Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont, Recife/Guararapes, Porto Alegre Salgado Filho, Salvador Bahia, Fortaleza, Curitiba Afonso Pena), https://www.bsb.aero/en/o-aeroporto/dados-operacionais/estatisticas/ (Brasília Airport), https://www.riogaleao.com/corporativo/page/numeros-do-aeroporto (Rio de Janeiro Galeão Airport), https://datos.anac.gob.ar/estadisticas/article/2f7b3796-627f-4123-89d6-a9fd625a98bc (Argentinië), https://site.bh-airport.com.br/SitePages/pt/publicacoes/estatisticas.aspx (Belo Horizonte), http://www.viracopos.com/pt_br/institucional/estatisticas-e-publicacoes.htm (São Paulo Campinas Airport).