List of the biggest and the busiest airports in the world

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The population of the world is increasing day by day and so is the need of the people. The need of transport for people and goods is increasing too. As a result, the airports are expanding at a rapid rate. But when it comes to the largest in the world, there are only a few that can claim this title.

The same goes for the world busiest airport. The passenger traffic in the domestic and international airports of the world helps a lot to increase the economy of the place.

You may get to pass through these airports and once you get to this, you may stop for a while and wonder about how many passengers passed through it. It often becomes tough to manage such large airports due to the logistic challenges but the airport authority does get over it.

You may have no idea of the total passengers that cross the airport daily. Nearly about millions of passengers cross the way daily the most of these large airports which is why it is considered to be busy. The airports in the United States happen to be the busiest.

What is the biggest airport in the world?

When it comes to the biggest and busiest airport in the world, the surface area isn't the only thing that should be taken into consideration. It is also determined by how many passengers pass through it each day.

The Airports Council International mentions about the largest airport in the world annually. They usually calculate the passenger traffic by the number of people who arrive and depart through direct transit. Let's have a look at the busiest and largest airports in the world.

Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Source: Flickr

Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport located in Georgia, USA happens to be the busiest airport in the world as per the reports of Airports Council International. The reports suggested that the passengers serve about 100 million every day.

It is regarded as the largest hub connection of North America. Since it is the major hub for Delta Airlines, AirTran Airways, nearly 60% of the ATL passengers are from Hartsfield. This airport is believed to serve around 103,902,992 passengers in the year 2017.

It has been holding this position for two decades. The airport has about 209 domestic and international gates. The surface area of the largest airport stretches around 4700 acres.

Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK)

Beijing Capital International Airport

Source: Wikipedia

Beijing International Airport giving a tough competition to Hartsfield International Airport. It is the second largest airport in the world and the largest in Asia. This airport is believed to serve around 95,786,442 passengers in the year 2017.

The airport serves as a major hub for Hainan Airlines, Air China and China Southern Airlines. Till the half of 2018, the airport has served about 49,380,000 passengers. The economy in China is booming with each passing day. So, in the coming days, the Beijing International Airport will grow to meet the needs like a world-class airport service.

Dubai International Airport (DXB)

Dubai International Airport

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Dubai International Airport is the third largest airport in the world. Compared to the last year, the airport has noticed about 5.5% increase in the traffic. It beat the Tokyo International Airport to become the third largest and busiest one.

From Dubai, the planes fly out to about 240 destinations with 90 partner airlines. As far as international passengers are concerned Dubai airport stands to be in the first position and for freight it ranks in the second.

In the past four years, the Dubai International airport has noticed about a doubled passenger. It is being anticipated by the year 2020, the airport will have about 104 million passengers.

In 2014, the duty-free stores from the Dubai airport were recorded to be the largest and busiest retail outlet.

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

Los Angeles International Airport

Source: Flickr

Los Angeles International Airport stands in the fourth position. In the United States, this is the second largest one. All the three major air carriers of the US such as American, Delta, and United Airlines have considered the LAX Airport as the hub.

Apart from that, it is also the hub for Alaska Airlines, At last Air and Virgin America. This airport beat the Haneda Airport (Tokyo International Airport) to rank as the fourth largest airport. The first half of 2018 noticed the traffic of 42,680,000. In its coverage area, the airport is the largest one covering Long Beach, Hollywood Burbank, John Wayne, and Ontario.

Tokyo International Airport (HND)

Tokyo International Airport

Source: Flickr

Tokyo International Airport is also referred to as Haneda Airport, ranking as the fifth biggest one. In 2017, as per the reports about 84,956,964 people passed through Haneda airport. With the growing time, the passenger traffic is increasing and expanding.

However, it mostly covers the domestic airline. The number of passengers at the airport has seen a significant rise.It is expected that the Haneda Airport can control over 90,000,000 passengers each year. Japan Airlines and Nippon Airways have the major hubs in Haneda Airport. It is the most punctual airport in the world.

Chicago O'Hare International Airport

Chicago O'Hare International Airport

O'Hare International airport is the third largest airport in the US, located in northwest Chicago, Illinois. As per the 2018 statistics, the airport is the sixth busiest one and has recorded traffic of 39,450,000 in the first half of 2018. 2017 statistics stated that the place recorded 79,828,183.

As far as annual and daily flights are concerned, it is the largest United Airlines hub. Back in 2017, the place was ranked as the biggest Mega Hub of USA. Chicago O'Hare International airport is regarded as one of the best airports of the USA and several times it has won awards for its excellency too.

London Heathrow Airport

London Heathrow Airport

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Compared to the previous year records, London Heathrow airport has significantly risen. Although it retains the same position, it has turned out to be one of the busiest airports. Moreover, the airport in 2017 saw a rise of 3% compared to 2016.

In 2017 it recorded major passenger traffic of about 78,012,825 passengers. Similarly, it is the hub for one of the essential airlines, British Airways. It handles 81 airlines flights serving around 204 destinations of 85 countries.

Although the plans for implementing a runway is being carried out there are chances that the runway will be functional in early 2025. Apart from that, a plan of a rail link between the Heathrow and Gatwick airport has also been proposed. As per the anticipations, both these projects will become operational by 2025 only. But by then, many airports would emerge leaving Heathrow to be one amongst the smallest.

Hong Kong International Airport

Hong Kong International Airport

Source: Flickr

Hong Kong International airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok Airport. It acted as a replacement to Kai Tak Airport inaugurated in 1998. Kai Tak airport suffered from severe problems since 1990. During the time, the flight suffered delayed. Since Kai Tak airport couldn't handle such massive traffic, the Chek Lap Kok Airport or Hong Kong International airport was developed.

The new Chek Lap Kok Airport has two runways. It handles about 1100 flights on a regular basis and has about 100 restaurants. Apart from it, due to its excellent services, the airport has also received "The World's Best Airport for Dining and Top Asian Airport Efficiency Excellence Award". Although it isn't as big as others, it is definitely an effective one.

Shanghai Pudong International Airport

Shanghai Pudong International Airport

Owner: Alexander Needham

Shanghai Pudong Airport was inaugurated in the year 1999. Since Shanghai's airport, Hongqiao was under great pressure. Ever since then it is one of the busiest airports of China. A few years ago, Shanghai stood quite lower than the Hong Kong's International Airport. Although the existent gap then was 65%, it has now been narrowed down to 4%.

Compared to the previous years, it saw major growth in development for the Shanghai Pudong International Airport. It managed to grow about 6.1%. In 2017, the airport witnessed traffic of 70,001,237. However, till the first half of 2018, the airport has witnessed the passenger traffic of 36,690,00.

Pudong airport is one of the major terminals for the Hong Kong traffic. The authority is planning to introduce a new terminal by the coming years. Moreover, they are also working towards developing a satellite terminal along with certain new runways. This will be the major boost for the Shanghai International airport since it will be able to hold the passenger capacity up to 80 million.

Indira Gandhi International Airport

Indira Gandhi International Airport

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi saw a massive rise as the busiest and largest airport in the world .

Back in 2017, it ranked at 16th position and as per 2018 analytics, it's on the 10th position. Basically, the airport saw a significant rise of 6% as compared to the past year, holding about 35,040,000 passengers only in the first half of the year .

Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG)

Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport

Charles de Gaulle Airport is the second largest airport in Europe and can handle about 120 flights in an hour. Such a massive capacity is due to the parallel runway feature. These runways have been designed precisely to assure proper movement of flights through each runway.

It is one of the most innovative airport. It brought in the two self-driving shuttles back in 2017 as a trial for six months. Moreover, the airport compared to others happen to be one of the most environment-friendly airports. It helps to reduce the carbon emission. Their policy for the coming years include the following:

It further aims to lower the surface area consumption by 7% from the 2015 year to that of 2020.

Just like the tech industry, the airport industry too is developing. If compared to the past decade, the airport industry stands at a massive height today. People are more relied on airplane transportation compared to the other modes these days. Airports form to be an important factor for economic development.

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