Top 20 Airports in the World
If you are a fan of air travel, this article will provide you with some curious facts about the world’s best airports in the world.
Singapore Changi Airport
The airport holds the spot as the world’s best airport for four consecutive years and it really deserves its fame. Changi Airport was established in 1981.
Its main characteristics are technological advancements in terms of service quality and great customer service. The airport offers services to customers with restricted mobility of exceptional quality.
An interesting fact about this airport is that it has won a total of 500 awards since its opening in 1981. The airport also has won 28 “Best Airport” awards in just 2015. Its total number of passengers is 55,448,964.
In fact more than 100 air companies use this airport and major air companies in Southeast Asia use it as a home base. These are:
- Singapore Airlines
- Singapore Airlines Cargo
- SilkAir, Scoot
- Tigerair
- Jetstar Asia Airways
- Jet Asia Airways
- FedEx Express
- BOC Aviation use it for their operations around the world
These air companies operate flights to 320 cities in about 80 countries from the airport. It’s a property of the Government of Singapore.
London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport is UK’s busiest airport and one of the world’s most popular airports. The number of passengers it serves is larger than this of the other world airports.
More than 80 air companies use the airport for 185 destinations in a total of 84 countries. British Airways uses Heathrow as a hub and Virgin Atlantic use it as a base. The airport’s owner is Heathrow Airport Holdings and the airport has four passenger terminals which are numbered 2 to 5 plus a cargo terminal.
In 2008 the airport experienced a considerable improvement thanks to the opening of Terminal 5 because this eased the traffic in the facilities. The airport’s total number of served passengers is 75,676,223.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
The Atlanta International Airport has been holding the 1-st place in the list of the busiest airports in the world since 1998. It serves 252,000 passengers each day. Its located at the City of Atlanta and used as a hub by Delta Airlines.
Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK)
It’s located at a distance of 20 miles from Beijing’s city center and it’s on the list of the world’s largest airports.
It’s ranked as the busiest airport in Asia and the second busiest airport in the world. The air companies Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hainana Airlines use this airport as a hub.
Munich Airport
Munich Airport is Germany’s second largest airport and it has been operating since 1992. This airport has a big number of conference facilities and it offers many retail options, excellent food services, a modern clinic with different medical services. Its passenger capacity is 40,981,522.
Lufthansa uses this airport as its secondary hub as well as Lufthansa Regional and its Star Alliance partners. The airport has two runways and an extensive cargo and maintenance facilities. It has the capacity to accommodate wide-body aircraft such as the famous Airbus A380.
Since the opening of a new Terminal in 2016 the airport’s number of passengers went from 11 million to 36 million. This addition increased the airport’s capacity and it started offering restaurants, duty free zones, fifteen retail areas, seven restaurants.
This new terminal brings benefits not only to the airport’s capacity but also to the environment. It’s said that the airport’s new terminal reduces the Co2 emissions with 40%.
Frankfurt am Main Airport (FRA)
The Frankfurt Airport is the busiest in Germany and offers the largest number of international destinations in the world. It’s owned by Fraport and it’s a hub for the air companies:
- AeroLogic
- Condor
- Lufthansa
- Lufthansa CityLine
- Lufthansa Cargo
London City Airport
London City Airport is the London’s fifth busiest airport in terms of aircraft and passengers movements and the 13th busiest airport in UK. It’s a key connection between Brussels and London and has been operating since 1987.
In 2015 the number of passengers the airport served is more than 4.3 million. This is a considerable increase of 18% in comparison to 2014. This airport is the Mecca of all business travelers. It has a capacity of 4,319,301 passengers.
One of the interesting things about this airport is that its main search area has a music background. There passengers can listen to ambient electronica or upbeat acoustic music while they give their hand luggage for screening and go through the security lanes. The airport’s speaker system plays songs of popular stars such as Ed Sheeran, Adele, Ben Howard, Gavin James, Jason Mraz.
O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
O’Hare International airport located in Chicago, Illinois. It serves flights to more than 60 international destinations. It is the second largest airport in the world when it comes to number of aircraft movements.The City of Chicago runs this airport and American Airlines, United Airlines, Atlas Air use it as a hub.
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Los Angeles International, also known as LAX is busiest airport on the West Coast of the U.S.,It has the nickname the “Gateway to the Pacific Rim.” It’s run by the City of Los Angeles and it’s used as a hub by:
- Alaska Airlines
- American Airlines
- Delta Air Lines
- United Airlines
- Atlas Air
Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG)
Air France ‘s main hub is also called Roissy Airport. Charles de Gaulle Airport is located to the northeast of Paris. Groupe ADP runs the operations of this airport with a capacity of 76.2 million passengers.
Dubai International Airport (DXB)
This Dubai airport is one of the main airline hubs in the Middle East and serves every continent excluding Antarctica. The Government of Dubai owns this airport and it’s a hub for the airlines Emirates and Flydubai.
Besides great hospitality Dubai’s largest airport offers a variety of luxury services and amenities one of which is a swimming pool. It was built in 1966. With a capacity of 78,475,336 passengers the airport is the third busiest in the world.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)
Schiphol Airport it’s one of the world’s largest airports. It takes 3,200 acres which categorizes it as an airport city. It’s run by Royal Schiphol Groupand it’s used as a hub by:
- KLM
- KLM Cityhopper
- Martinair
- Transavia
- TUI Fly Netherlands
John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
JFK was called Idlewild Airport in the past. This airport is located in New York City and it’s a part of the New York City airport system – the largest in the U.S. and the second largest in the world. It’s owned by the City of New York and American Airlines and Delta Airlines use it as a hub.
Guarulhos International Airport
Sao Paolo’s airport is the busiest in Latin America and it was opened in 1985. It serves 38,985,000 passengers per year. The airport’s operations are managed by a consortium that include Invepar, Airports Company South Africa, and Infraero. São Paulo Air Force Base of the Brazilian Air Force uses some of this airport’s facilities.
Hong Kong International Airport (HKG)
This airport is the world’s busiest cargo gateway. It was established in 1998 on the small island of Chek Lap Kok. It’s one of the most efficient airports . It has a structure beautifully designed in a modern style by the famous British architect Lord Norman Foster. Its cutting-edge art design was finished in 1998
For this reason Construction Industry Manufacturers Association proclaimed this airport as one of the top 10 construction achievement for 20th century.
It has a capacity of 68,500,000 passengers. The airport is operated by the Airport Authority Hong Kong 24 hours a day and is the primary hub for Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, Hong Kong Airlines, Hong Kong Express Airways and Air Hong Kong, a cargo carrier.
The airport’s owner is Airport Authority Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon, Hong Kong Airlines, Hong Kong Express use it as a hub.
Ataturk International Airport (IST)
This airport was named after the founder of the Republic of Turkey. Ataturk International Airport was ranked Airport of the Year in 2013 and won the Europe’s Best Airport voting.
It’s operated by Owner General Directorate of State Airports and it’s a hub for MNG Airlines, Turkish Cargo, ULS Airlines Cargo.
Sochi Airport
One of Russia’s largest airports was opened in 1945 has a capacity of 5,260,000 passengers. The most interesting fact about Sochi’s airport is that it handled over 350,000 passengers in February 2014 because of the Winter Olympics event.
The airport is operated by an international joint venture of Sberbank, Changi Airports International and Basic Element group.
Brisbane Airport
Waiting for your flight at this airport may feel like a mini vacation as this airport is like no other. It was created in 1995 and after big renovations in 2019 the airport’s new international terminal passengers can enjoy a sunny picnic under palm trees while lying on lounges or sitting on stools.
Virgin Australia uses Brisbane Airport as a major hub, Qantas and Jetstar use it as a secondary hub.
Tokyo Haneda
Tokyo Haneda (also called Tokyo International Airport (HND)) is one of two largest main airports in Tokyo. If you have never seen a robot before, this airport offers you this great opportunity. A concierge robot on rollerblades with the name of EMIEW3 greets all of the airport’s passengers which reach the number of 72,826,862 million per year.
Many Japan air companies such as Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways, Air Do, Skymark Airlines, Solaseed Air and StarFlyer use this airport as a base.
Tokyo airport, also known as Haneda Airport, handles most of Tokyo’s domestic flights and few international flights.
Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK)
The Suvarnabhumi Airport ( also called New Bangkok International Airport) is located at 16-mile distance from downtown Bangkok. It’s one of the two major international airports in Bangkok, Thailand.It was opened in 2006 and its Sanskrit name Suvarnabhumi translates as ‘land of gold’.
It plays the role as a hub for Bangkok Airways, Jet Asia Airways, Thai Airways, Thai Smile, Thaie VieJet Air and it’s operated by AOT.
