List of the busiest airports
The cachet of being known as the world's busiest airport is fiercely fought over by owners of the world's largest airports.
The following airports have variously made claims (or had claims made for them).
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, United States - Largest number of passengers annually (1998-2003) - Most arrivals and departures annually (1999-2000)
- O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois, United States - Largest number of passengers annually (pre-1998) - Most arrivals and departures annually (pre-1998, 2001-)
- Frankfurt International Airport, Frankfurt am Main, Germany - Most international destinations served.
- Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom - Largest number of international passengers annually
- Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California, United States - Most passengers with final destination in airport city (not just stop-over)
- Memphis International Airport, Memphis, United States (home of FedEx) - Most cargo traffic by volume annually
Before O'Hare took the lead in 1962, the world's busiest airport by passenger and aircraft movements was Chicago's Midway Airport, which took the title in 1932 (before World War II, Chicago was the origin or destination of one in four U.S. airline flights). [1]
The thirty busiest airports for various periods (data provided by Airports Council International) measured by number of passengers are as follows. One 'passenger' is described as someone who arrives in, departs from or transfers through the airport on a given day.
2003 final statistics
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, United States (ATL) 79,086,792
- O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois, United States (ORD) 69,508,672
- London Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom (LHR) 63,487,136
- Tokyo International Airport, Tokyo, Japan (HND) 62,876,269
- Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California United States, (LAX) 54,982,838
- Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, United States, (DFW) 53,253,607
- Frankfurt International Airport, Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) 48,351,664
- Charles De Gaulle International Airport, Paris, France (CDG) 48,220,436
- Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (AMS) 39,960,400
- Denver International Airport, Denver, Colorado, United States (DEN) 37,505,138
- Sky Harbor International Airport, Phoenix, Arizona, United States (PHX) 37,412,165
- McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States (LAS) 36,285,932
- Barajas International Airport, Madrid, Spain (MAD) 35,854,293
- George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston, Texas, United States (IAH) 34,154,574
- Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport, Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States (MSP) 33,201,860
- Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Detroit, Michigan, United States (DTW) 32,664,620
- John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York, United States (JFK) 31,732,371
- Don Muang International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand (BKK) 30,175,379
- London Gatwick Airport, London, United Kingdom (LGW) 30,007,021
- Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida, United States (MIA) 29,595,618
- Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark, New Jersey, United States (EWR) 29,431,061
- San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California, United States (SFO) 29,313,271
- Orlando International Airport, Orlando, Florida, United States (MCO) 27,319,223
- Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China (HKG) 27,092,290
- Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, Washington, United States (SEA) 26,755,888
- Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan (NRT) 26,537,406
- Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport, Rome, Italy (FCO) 26,284,478
- Kingsford Smith International Airport, Sydney, Australia (SYD) 25,333,508
- Toronto Pearson International Airport, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (YYZ) 24,739,312
- Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States (PHL) 24,671,075
August 2002 final statistics
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, United States (ATL) 76,876,128
- O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois, United States (ORD) 66,565,952
- London Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom (LHR) 63,338,641
- Tokyo International Airport, Tokyo, Japan (HND) 61,079,478
- Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California United States, (LAX) 56,223,843
- Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, United States, (DFW) 52,828,573
- Frankfurt International Airport, Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) 48,450,357
- Charles De Gaulle International Airport, Paris, France (CDG) 48,350,172
- Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (AMS) 40,736,009
- Denver International Airport, Denver, Colorado, United States (DEN) 35,651,098
- Sky Harbor International Airport, Phoenix, Arizona, United States (PHX) 35,547,167
- McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States (LAS) 35,009,011
- Barajas International Airport, Madrid, Spain (MAD) 33,913,456
- George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston, Texas, United States (IAH) 33,905,253
- Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China (HKG) 33,882,463
- Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport, Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States (MSP) 32,628,331
- Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Detroit, Michigan, United States (DTW) 32,477,694
- Don Muang International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand (BKK) 32,182,980
- San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California, United States (SFO) 31,456,422
- Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida, United States (MIA) 30,060,241
- John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York, United States (JFK) 29,943,084
- London Gatwick Airport, London, United Kingdom (LGW) 29,628,423
- Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark, New Jersey, United States (EWR) 29,202,654
- Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore (SIN) 28,979,344
- Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan (NRT) 28,883,606
- Beijing Capital International Airport, Beijing, People's Republic of China (PEK) 27,159,665
- Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, Washington, United States (SEA) 26,690,843
- Orlando International Airport, Orlando, Florida, United States (MCO) 26,653,672
- Toronto Pearson International Airport, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (YYZ) 25,930,363
- Lambert-Saint Louis International Airport, Saint Louis, Missouri, United States (STL) 25,626,114