Handy Facts About The Largest Airports in the World ✈️
The Airports Council International, based in Switzerland, is the industry organization which compiles and publishes data for all the largest airports in the world every year. Atlanta leads the largest airports in the word table by a wide margin and has done so since 2000. The world’s oldest airport was in Maryland USA which was established in 1909 by flying pioneer Wilbur Wright and it’s still in use today. The world’s oldest international airport is claimed by Croydon airport in England. From March 1920 it was the first airport capable of handling international passengers. Croydon served London until 1959 when it was closed after the new London Heathrow airport opened.
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| Largest Airports in the World[1] ✈️ | # | Country / Territory | IATA code[2] | ICAO code[3] | Passengers Latest[4] | Change[5] 📈 | Airport Opened[6] | Terminals[7] | Distance from city (km) | Distance from city (miles) | Direction from city 🧭 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta Airport | 1 | 🇺🇸 USA | ATL | KATL | 107,394,029 | 0 | 1925 | 7 | 16 | 9.9 | South |
| Beijing Capital Airport | 2 | 🇨🇳 China | PEK | ZBAA | 100,983,290 | 0 | 1958 | 3 | 29 | 18 | North east |
| Dubai Airport | 3 | 🇦🇪 UAE | DXB | OMDB | 89,149,387 | 0 | 1960 | 3 | 5 | 3.1 | South east |
| Los Angeles Airport | 4 | 🇺🇸 USA | LAX | KLAX | 87,534,384 | 3 | 1930 | 5 | 24 | 14.9 | West |
| Tokyo Haneda Airport | 5 | 🇯🇵 Japan | HND | RJTT | 87,131,973 | 0 | 1937 | 9 | 25 | 15.5 | West |
| Chicago O’Hare Airport | 6 | 🇺🇸 USA | ORD | KORD | 83,339,186 | -2🔻 | 1944 | 4 | 23 | 14 | North west |
| London Heathrow Airport | 7 | 🏴England, 🇬🇧 UK | LHR | EGLL | 80,126,320 | -1🔻 | 1955 | 4 | 27 | 16.8 | North west |
| Hong Kong Airport | 8 | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong, 🇨🇳 SAR China | HKG | VHHH | 74,517,402 | 0 | 1998 | 2 | 39 | 24.2 | North west |
| Shanghai Pudong Airport | 9 | 🇨🇳 China | PVG | ZSPD | 74,006,331 | 4 | 2004 | 1 | 28 | 17.4 | North |
| Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport | 10 | 🇫🇷 France | CDG | LFPG | 72,229,723 | -1🔻 | 1999 | 2 | 30 | 18.6 | East |
| Amsterdam Schiphol Airport | 11 | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | AMS | EHAM | 71,053,157 | 3 | 1936 | 2 | 12 | 7.5 | South west |
| New Delhi Indira Gandhi Airport | 12 | 🇮🇳 India | DEL | VIDP | 69,900,938 | 13 | 1986 | 6 | 16 | 9.9 | South west |
| Guangzhou Baiyun Airport | 13 | 🇨🇳 China | CAN | ZGGG | 69,769,497 | 4 | 1984 | 2 | 31 | 19.3 | North west |
| Frankfurt Airport | 14 | 🇩🇪 Germany | FRA | EDDF | 69,510,269 | -2🔻 | 1974 | 5 | 35 | 21.7 | North west |
| Dallas/Fort Worth Airport | 15 | 🇺🇸 USA | DFW | KDFW | 69,112,607 | -5🔻 | 1974 | 3 | 26 | 16.2 | North east |
| Seoul Incheon Airport | 16 | 🇰🇷 South Korea | ICN | RKSI | 68,350,784 | 6 | 1927 | 4 | 21 | 13 | South |
| Istanbul Atatürk Airport | 17 | 🇹🇷 Turkey | IST | LTBA | 68,192,683 | -6🔻 | 1920 | 1 | 14 | 8.7 | South west |
| Soekarno–Hatta Airport | 18 | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | CGK | WIII | 66,908,159 | 0 | 1981 | 3 | 12 | 7.5 | East |
| Singapore Changi Airport | 19 | 🇸🇬 Singapore | SIN | WSSS | 65,628,000 | -3🔻 | 1981 | 4 | 20 | 12 | East |
| Denver Airport | 20 | 🇺🇸 USA | DEN | KDEN | 64,494,613 | -1🔻 | 2001 | 1 | 48 | 29.8 | West |
| Suvarnabhumi Airport | 21 | 🇹🇭 Thailand | BKK | VTBS | 63,378,923 | -1🔻 | 1995 | 3 | 37 | 23 | North east |
| John F. Kennedy Airport | 22 | 🇺🇸 USA | JFK | KJFK | 61,909,148 | -7🔻 | 1924 | 3 | 24 | 14.9 | South west |
| Kuala Lumpur Airport | 23 | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | KUL | WMKK | 59,959,000 | 0 | 1993 | 2 | 58 | 36 | South |
| Madrid Barajas Airport | 24 | 🇪🇸Spain | MAD | LEMD | 57,891,340 | 0 | 1948 | 9 | 24 | 14.9 | East |
| San Francisco Airport | 25 | 🇺🇸 USA | SFO | KSFO | 57,793,313 | -4🔻 | 2006 | 1 | 30 | 18.6 | East |
| Chengdu Shuangliu Airport | 26 | 🇨🇳 China | CTU | ZUUU | 52,950,000 | 5 | 1956 | 2 | 16 | 10 | South west |
| Barcelona–El Prat Airport | 27 | 🇪🇸Spain | BCN | LEBL | 50,172,457 | 13 | 1918 | 2 | 12 | 7.5 | South west |
| Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport | 28 | 🇮🇳India | BOM | VABB | 49,877,918 | 7 | 1945 | 2 | 5 | 3 | West |
| Seattle-Tacoma Airport | 29 | 🇺🇸 USA | SEA | KSEA | 49,849,520 | 3 | 1944 | 1 | 23 | 14 | South |
| Las Vegas McCarran Airport | 30 | 🇺🇸 USA | LAS | KLAS | 49,716,584 | -4🔻 | 1948 | 2 | 8 | 5 | South |
| Toronto Pearson Airport | 31 | 🇨🇦 Canada | YYZ | CYYZ | 49,507,418 | 2 | 1958 | 2 | 22.5 | 14 | North west |
| Shenzhen Bao’an Airport | 32 | 🇨🇳 China | SZX | ZGSZ | 49,350,000 | 7 | 1991 | 1 | 32 | 20 | North west |
| Mexico City Benito Juárez Airport | 33 | 🇲🇽 Mexico | MEX | MMMX | 47,700,547 | 12 | 1943 | 2 | 5 | 3 | East |
| Orlando Airport | 34 | 🇺🇸 USA | MCO | KMCO | 47,696,627 | 8 | 1981 | 2 | 10 | 6 | South east |
Largest Airports Notes:
* Airports participating in the ACI Annual Traffic Statistics Collection. [1] Largest airports ranked by annual passenger numbers to end of 2018. [2] IATA The International Air Transport Association. [3] ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization. [4] Annual passenger numbers to end of 2018. [5] Change since 2015. [6] Some airports had former uses and names before the listed opening date.
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