Air traffic increases year on year, and so it’s no surprise that airports are getting busier and busier. We take a look at the busiest airports in the world…
1. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Officially the busiest airport in the world, Hartsfield-Jackson sees around 260,000 passengers arrive or depart every single day! It certainly takes a lot of hard work to keep this running smoothly, but Hartsfield-Jackson manage it well, successfully dealing with over 104 million passengers in 2017.
2. Beijing Capital International Airport
With over 94 million passengers in 2017, this is one of the busiest airports in the world, but it’s also the biggest when it comes to size, taking up 1480 hectares of land. It’s a stunningly designed airport, take a look at it via Google Earth and you’ll see just what we mean.
3. Dubai International Airport
Despite only having two runways, Dubai International Airport still manages to be the third busiest airport in the world. In 2017 alone it handled over 83 million passengers as well as 2.59 tons of cargo. Dubai International handles more international passengers than any other airport in the world.
4. Los Angeles International Airport
The number of passengers using Los Angeles International has increased by 8% in the last two years, making it the fourth busiest airport in the world.
5. Tokyo Haneda Airport
Since the completion of a major expansion project back in 2010, Haneda airport has gone from strength to strength. Around 90 million passengers pass through this airport each year.
6. O’Hare International Airport
O’Hare airport in Chicago used to be the busiest in the world. While other airports have now surpassed it, it’s still up there with the best as the world’s sixth busiest airport.
7. Heathrow International Airport
Heathrow in London started out as a small airfield back in 1929. How things have changed since then! Now there are over 75 million people using Heathrow airport each year. It’s the busiest airport in the UK and further expansions are currently in discussion so we may see Heathrow moving up the list in years to come.
8. Hong Kong International Airport
Hong Kong International is situated on its own island. The island is man made, reclaimed land in the sea for the sole purpose of building this stunning airport. The airline has a lot of passengers, but it’s also one of the main airports in the world for handling cargo.
No matter how busy they are, some of these airports don’t compromise on quality and were voted best airports in the world in 2019.
Emily is an avid writer with a passion for the travel industry. She also loves learning and writing about nutrition and healthy living. Emily is based in the UK.
