The 30 biggest airports (if you count the amount of passengers) in 2006 were:
1. Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) Atlanta, USA – 84 846 639
2. Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) USA – 77 028 134
3. London Heathrow (LHR) England – 67 530 197
4. Tokyo International Airport (HND) Japan – 65 810 672
5. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) – LA, USA – 61 041 066
6. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) – USA – 60 226 138
7. Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) – France – 56 849 567
8. Frankfurt International Airport (FRA) – Germany – 52 810 683
9. Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) – Beijing, China – 48 654 770
10. Denver International Airport (DEN) – USA – 47 325 016
11. McCarran International Airport (LAS) – Las Vegas, USA – 46 193 329
12. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) – Holland – 46 065 719
13. Madrid Barajas Airport (MAD) – Spain – 45 501 168
14. Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) – China – 43 857 908
15. John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) – New York, USA – 43 762 282
16. Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) – Bangkok, Thailand – 42 799 532
17. George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) – Houston, USA – 42 550 432
18. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) – USA – 41 436 737
19. Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) – New Yersey/New York, USA – 36 724 167
20. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) – USA – 35 972 673
21. Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) – Minnesota, USA – 35 612 133
22. Changi Airport (SIN) – Singapore – 35 033 083
23. Tokyo Narita (NRT) – Japan – 34 975 225
24. Orlando International Airport (MCO) – USA – 34 640 451
25. London Gatwick Airport (LGW) – England – 34 172 492
26. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) – USA – 33 574 807
27. Miami International Airport (MIA) – USA – 32 533 974
28. Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) – USA – 31 768 272
29. Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) – Canada – 30 972 577
30. Munich International Airport (MUC) - Germany – 30 757 978
If you only look at international passengers, the results were:
1. London Heathrow (LHR) England – 61 348 340
2. Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) – France – 51 888 936
3. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) – Holland – 45 940 939
4. Frankfurt International Airport (FRA) – Germany – 45 697 176
5. Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) – China – 43 274 765
6. Tokyo Narita (NRT) – Japan – 33 860 094
7. Changi Airport (SIN) – Singapore 33 368 099
8. London Gatwick Airport (LGW) – England – 30 016 837
9. Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) – Bangkok, Thailand – 29 587 773
10. Dubai International Airport (DXB) United Arab Emirates 27 925 522
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jimmytomato
2 years ago
Great Post!
I’ve always wondered about this and I’m quite surprised that Atlanta is No. 1 and JFK is at 15??
Cheers,
Jim
Raph
2 years ago
Malaysia’s KLIA should be in there though.
Erica Johansson
2 years ago
Thanks Jim. I was quite surprised about that too actually, thought JFK was going to be much higher up on the list.
Raph, I just read KLIA has about 15-25 million passengers a year, so it’s not among the 30 biggest. But it might be the best because it was voted as the world’s best airport two years in a row!
Raph
2 years ago
Really? Oh wow.
Any links to this?
Cheers!
Erica Johansson
2 years ago
I read it on their website at http://www.klia.com.my/
rome
2 years ago
Very interesting. I thought to find in this list the airport of Rome (Italy). But no. This is also due to the crisis of Alitalia, the Italian national airline.
The Alitalia crisis has two factors:
- The first is a lack of a clear corporate strategy to relaunch the company.
- The second factor responsible for the crisis is the divisions within the government (the main shareholder in Alitalia) regarding the measures to be taken.
Alitalia probably will be sold to a foreign company, and I am a little sad, I am Italian, from Rome …ciao!
Laurentiu
2 years ago
Congratulations Erica !!!
For me your Top is a start point.
Please help me with aditional informations ( if you wish and can ).
Thankyou anyway & all the best.
Erica Johansson
2 years ago
Laurentiu,
If I should help, you need to say what kind of additional information you are looking for.
kaki ampu
2 years ago
But i stiil luv KLIA Sepang in Kuala Lumpur. It very different. To me KLIA was the best airport in the world…i swear!
tomal
2 years ago
i realy srprise that, there is no place for riyad & dubai airports in top 10..how come? i think the person did this research never been to riyad or dubai airport.its realy surprising…
Erica Johansson
2 years ago
tomal,
As you can see in the international passengers list, Dubai is on the 10th place.
Riyadh Airport’s yearly amount of passenger is only a 7-figure number. The airports among the top 30 all have an 8-figure number. Facts about Riyadh Airport can be found at http://www.azworldairports.com/cfm/frame.cfm?src=http://www.azworldairports.com/airports/p2390ruh.htm
Manchester gaz
2 years ago
I Must admit im a bit dissapointed that manchester Airport is nowhere to be seen, but not suprised as it is the UKs second city.
That rate its growing at, it will work its way on the top 30.
Magdalene Ngina
2 years ago
I recently had my first exposure to a large airport Amsterdam and it was big the travelers were many and it was really confusing especially for me coming all the way from Africa.
Jake Tamir-Pinsky
1 year ago
I LIKE IT
Though I thought Boston-Logan international would probably be in the top 30.
best regards
Jake
andrew
1 year ago
Dallas is still at number 6.
what a shame.
Mix
1 year ago
I’m wondering about the veracity of these numbers e.g. Singapore has 35M passengers and 33M of them are international… now I’m wondering where the rest of the 2M people are travelling to… from Changi to Boon Lay by plane perhaps?
Whats the source?
Erica Johansson
1 year ago
@Mix, Good point
I found the list in a newsletter by the Swedish travel site Jorden Runt http://www.jordenrunt.nu/start/
austin wlock
1 year ago
i know that atlanta is busiest because i fly in to their airport almost every time i go to tampa but i would have thought jfk would have been like 4th
William Johnson
1 year ago
I’m quite surprised to find schiphol amsterdam international on number 4 on the list. For little country like The Netherlands with a population of 16 million people to have such a large airport with such a strong airline KLM (Royale Dutch Airline) is absolutly amazing. I think schipholo has the most runways in Europe.
fhhjs
1 year ago
Why isnt that Malaysia airport …..KLIA on there????????????????/
austin wlock
11 months ago
its not that hard to figure out just go to a lot of airports
Cronkmiester
11 months ago
Does anyone know what is the biggest airport is that maintains an operational Rail and Ferry Terminal on airport property ?
And what airport has the highest public transport per head usage for arriving and departing passengers ?
ASMAIO CONDE
10 months ago
deberian incluir el dorado de bogota por america del sur , aunque construiran el mas moderno de latinoamerica en bogota lla inicio la construcciion
Moe
9 months ago
why the hell isn’t cape town or johannesburg international airport there!!!!!!!!! they are one of the busiest!! damn
amir
9 months ago
Why isn’t Kuala Lumpur International Airport(KLIA) in here?
I just read in wikipedia it is one of the largest airport sites in the world.
INFO:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuala_Lumpur_International_Airport
(Look in History and design section in)
Erica Johansson
9 months ago
amir, I just realized the title to this post is a bit misleading. The list doesn’t actually include the airports that are largest in size, only those with the highest amount of passengers.
Martin
8 months ago
I was wondering where things stand now if we had an updated list to look at ??
Erica Johansson
8 months ago
I haven’t heard about or seen any updated list, but I’ll let you know if I do.
Airports
6 months ago
where is Kuala Lumpur International Airport?It really deserves to be on the list! it is one of the most beautiful airports i have ever seen!
Airports´s last blog ..A Different Kind Of Cruise, The Nile
Erica Johansson
6 months ago
Like I wrote above, the list only includes the airports with the highest amount of passengers, and not those that are largest in size (or the most beautiful). That will have to be another post!
tempo dulu
3 weeks ago
The best airports are not necessarily the biggest.
Having said that Singapore’s Changi Airport is amazing – very user friendly despite its huge size.
tempo dulu´s last blog ..Ngurah Rai International: one of the world’s ugliest airports?
Erica Johansson
3 weeks ago
Very true. I love Copenhagen Airport and it’s not even on this list. I hope to pass through Changi Airport some time.
Danny
3 weeks ago
Why isn’t KLIA listed in here?
Erica Johansson
3 weeks ago
Please see the comments above from 8 months ago.