15 BIGGEST Airports in the World

Nations around the world are building absolutely massive airports to facilitate surging Global demand for travel and tourism these bustling Transportation hubs connect Nations and continents welcoming millions of Travelers every day with state-of-the-art facilities so for today's video I'm going to count down the top 15 largest airports in the world let's get into number 15. the Miami International Airport Florida and the United States located in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County and around eight miles or about 13 kilometers to the northwest of Miami the Miami International Airport is the main one that serves the city as of 2021 it's got more than a thousand scheduled flights per day to 167 domestic and international destinations and it's the busiest International cargo airport in the U.S as well as also becoming the busiest Gateway in the U.S for international Travelers it covers an area of 3 300 acres and serves more than 17 and a half million passengers in the last year that figures are available and it's of huge economic importance to the region but of course it had far more modest Origins the site was first used as an airport in the 1920s when it was known as Miami City Airport Pan-American World Airways developed a site further with the arrival of other airlines it grew steadily through the 1930s the military built an Airfield there too during the second world war and this was combined with the main airport when the Air Force relocated and expanded the capacity enough that following the war an airport started offering non-stop flights to Chicago and Newark as World Travel became more common Miami International was perfectly positioned to capitalize on this booming industry it now has three Terminals and six concourses with a total of 131 Gates and amazingly offers flights to virtually every country in South America number 14 Adolfo Suarez Madrid Barajas airport Madrid Spain if you've ever visited Madrid the capital city of Spain chances are you would have traveled through the Adolfo Suarez Madrid barahas Airport which is the main International Airport that serves that region of the country covering a space of 7 500 Acres it's the second largest in Europe in terms of the amount of land that it covers and it's the fifth largest on the continent in terms of Passenger numbers with around 61 or about 62 million people passing through in a normal year it was originally built in 1929 and open to international air traffic in 1931 and at the time it had a small terminal building that was able to handle around 30 000 people a year the first Runway was only added in the 1940s and it had three by the end of that decade of which all since have been demolished and replaced and these are allowed the airport to offer routes as far as Latin America and even the Philippines the first direct flights to the United States began in the 1950s at which point the airport could handle half a million passengers a year and a series of huge expansions in the following decades thanks to Madrid hosting the soccer World Cup the air Court became the home base of Iberia Airlines it saw it grow to its current size with five passenger terminals a dedicated cargo terminal and four runways at least 84 different airlines operate regular flights into the airport and now that things are running near capacity a new Expansion Project is already underway to hopefully increase the capacity by a further 10 million people by 2026 number 13. Amsterdam airport Netherlands Chipotle airport is around 5.6 miles or about 9 kilometers to the southwest of Amsterdam in the municipality of Harley mimir and is the main International Airport of the Netherlands serving almost 72 million passengers a year it is a vital transport Hub and it's the third busiest in all of Europe it's also hugely important as a cargo terminal too with around 1.7 million tons of goods passing through each year and interestingly it takes a different approach to its design than many with just a single terminal that itself is split into three departure Halls covering an area of 6 880 Acres the first Airfield was built on the site in 1916 and was at the time used by the Dutch Air Force to launch campaigns during the first world war once the fighting had ended though it transitioned to becoming a civilian airport and within 20 years it had four runways but the entire facility was completely destroyed during a bombing campaign during the second world war in 1949 it was decided that this should be the location of the country's main airport so a new terminal building was constructed and a small town was demolished to make space for a future expansion the structure that forms the large part of the terminal building today was built in 1967 and it's since been expanded a number of times to accommodate an increasing passenger number with six runways and excellent transport connections to Amsterdam at least 100 airline companies operate regularly throughout the airport along with a Runway and building dedicated solely to light aircraft as well and it's been designed in a way that further Terminals and runways can be added if needed to Future proof for the expected increase in passengers in the coming decades number 12. the Harry Reid International Airport Nevada United States acting as the main airport that serves Las Vegas and Nevada it's no surprise that the Harry Reid International Airport is one of the busiest in the world covering an area of 2 800 acres it's around 5 miles or eight kilometers to the south of downtown Vegas and it's got four runways two passenger Terminals and a dedicated cargo Center this allows it to handle around 53 million passengers and a huge volume of cargo each year it's also one of the very few airports in the world that has an official road racing lap record because it was used to host a sports car Club of America race in the 1960s the airport's Origins can be traced back to the 1940s when a small Airfield was built on the site and while this wasn't the first airport in the region it was the one and only the city was able to buy and invest heavily into by 1949 it could already handle 36 000 passengers a year and through a series of expansions in virtually every decade since it has now four runways two Terminals and five concourses with 108 gates in total 42 airlines operate this airport and it's the base of four Allegiant Air Frontier Airlines Southwest Airlines and Spirit Airlines of course the most popular routes are the ones within the United States with the busiest destinations being La Denver and Seattle and internationally the best connected cities to Harry Green Airport are Mexico City Toronto and London number 11. John F Kennedy International Airport New York United States one of the best known U.S airports around the world the John F Kennedy International Airport or JFK located in the Jamaica Plains neighborhood of Queens which is 16 miles or 26 kilometers to the southeast of Manhattan and it's the main International Airport and the busiest of all seven airports that serve New York more than 90 different airlines operate regular flights there and as well as connecting to the rest of the U.S they serve routes to every other continent apart from Antarctica first known as Idlewild airport after the golf course that was on the land before work began on the construction of JFK International in 1943. the first flights began in 1948 when it officially became known as New York International Airport and with international flight permits being banned to the other airports in the area it was soon established as the city's connection to the rest of the World by 1954 it was the busiest airport on the planet and went through Rapid expansion to keep up with demand in December of 1963 within just a month and two days of the Assassin nation of President JFK the decision had been made to rename the airport after him something that made it famous around the world and it now has four runways four helipads and five passenger terminals with around 55 to 56 million people passing through each year interestingly it's from JFK that the longest flight in the world operates which is a direct service spanning 9537 miles or 15 700 kilometers to Singapore and JFK International has also been the site of two audacious robberies the first in 1967 when the equivalent of 3.7 million dollars was stolen by a crime family from the Air France cargo terminal at the airport which was at the time the largest cash robbery ever in the U.S and the second in 1978 when the equivalent of 26.4 million dollars worth of cash in joules was stolen from the Lufthansa cargo building number 10 Indira Gandhi International Airport Delhi India Indira Gandhi International Airport located in the Palam region of Delhi in India is the busiest airport in the country and it's located just 9.9 miles or 15 kilometers from the city center the 5100 Acre Site is named after the former prime minister of India Indira Gandhi and serves as a major Gateway for both domestic and international air travel it's made up of three main terminals Terminal 1 2 and 3 and with terminal 3 it's the largest and most modern terminal capable of handling over 40 million passengers a year just by itself on average the airport typically caters to around 66 million passengers in a normal year and a large amount of cargo too with at least 90 Airlines offering regular Services here originally it was known as Palam airport and built during the second world war the old domestic site was turned into Terminal 1 and it was renamed in honor of Indira Gandhi when the second terminal was opened in 1986. now with four runways plenty of space has been left for future expansion too with plans already drawn up for the addition of a further three terminals that will take its capacity City to 100 million passengers per year and these will be built in stages as when the demand is there the airport's well connected to the city of Delhi and other parts of the country through several different Transportation options it's got a dedicated Metro station allowing travelers to easily access the airport from different parts of Delhi and additional taxis buses and car rental services are readily available for convenient transportation to and from the airport this airport has consistently been recognized for its excellence in various aspects and over the years it's received several Awards and accolades including the prestigious best airport in Central Asia India the title by skytrak's World Airport Awards the airport's management continually strives to improve its infrastructure and services to meet the growing demands of passengers and maintain its reputation as a world-class Aviation Hub and at the center of one of the fastest growing economies on Earth it'll be critical to India's ongoing success in the years to come whether for business tourism or trade number nine Charles de Gaulle Airport France Charles de Gaulle Airport which is also sometimes known as Rossi airport is the third biggest airport in Europe and it's located in Russian France which is the commune that's around 14 miles or 23 kilometers to the northeast of Paris named after the iconic French World War II Statesman Charles de Gaulle covers an area of 8 000 acres and it's made up of three terminals with more than 105 Airlines operating throughout the airport it handles about 58 million passengers per year and more than 2 million tons of cargo per year as a true International Airport it offers more direct flights to more countries than any other airport on the planet and it's also home to the largest number of Airlines it was only Built as recently as 1974 to consolidate the air traffic that was spread across a number of other sites and as it's relatively new it feels a lot more modern than most others it's renowned for its architectural design and infrastructure Terminal 1 designed by Paul Andrew is Iconic circular building with futuristic features and Terminal 2 conversely is a sprawling complex that includes a variety of facilities such as duty-free shops restaurants lounges and even an on-site Hotel there's also a huge complex of Office Buildings hotels and shopping spaces within the grounds of the airport which is where the headquarters of Air France is and several other Airlines and as further boosted the economic benefits of the development as it was purposefully built from the start as the airport for Paris Charles de Gaulle has an excellent Transportation link with the city and the rest of France as for the future things are still to be decided place for another terminal to increase its capacity but following a drop in passenger numbers due to the pandemic and new laws being brought in to reduce air travel in favor of Greener Alternatives these have been put on hold and aren't likely to be Revisited until after the 2030s number eight Heathrow Airport London United Kingdom at 14 miles or 23 kilometers to the west of Central London and located within the borough of Hillingdon Heathrow Airport is the second busiest in Europe and for a long time it was the busiest passenger airport in the world what's pretty surprising about this is that it's on a much smaller site than many other large international airports with a land area of just over 3 000 Acres but on this are two runways and four passenger Terminals and a cargo terminal that can cater to 78 million passengers in a typical year as the main airport in the UK and by far the largest of the five that serve London it's the home base for British Airways and Virgin Atlantic and used by more than 80 Airlines to offer flights to at least 185 destinations in 84 different countries now interestingly 94 percent of passengers using the airport were doing so to either enter or leave the UK with just six percent using it for domestic flights and the most popular route is the direct connection to JFK in New York which is flown by around 3 million people a year it's one of the most advanced and efficient air ports in the world even though the technology is renowned for failing at the busiest times which shows just how far it's come from its Beginnings an airport was first built on the site in 1929 and at a time when it even had its own Farm but proper development only began to truly take place towards the end of the second world war to facilitate long-distance military aircraft it was opened in 1946 as London Airport and was renamed Heathrow Airport in 1966 and at that point it had six runways that were arranged in the shape of a hexagram these were too short for modern aircraft though so have since been combined to form the two main runways and taxiways around the airport today but from aerial shots you can still make out the original layout as it's such a high profile place that sees famous faces passing through each day Heathrow has its own press pool made up of six photographers and TV crew who offer content to newspapers and TV stations around the world and welcoming people from all backgrounds and faiths as places of worship available to Travelers of virtually every religion and a mult Faith prayer room in each terminal as well huge strides have also been taken to try to reduce the environmental impact of the airport such as the introduction of flight restrictions During certain times of the day and even increased use of electric vehicles to transport passengers around the site in an attempt to lessen the number of traditional cars that drive to the terminals it's also extremely easy to access London from Heathrow without using a car as it has a train and Subway connections to the city that can get you there in as little as 20 minutes moving on to number seven Istanbul airport turkey as the largest airport in Europe Istanbul airport which is located in the anarch Victoria District of the European side of Istanbul and turkey is a state-of-the-art International Airport that serves as a major Transportation Hub connecting Europe Asia and the Middle East first opened in 2018 it's near the Black Sea Coast and covers a massive area of almost 19 000 Acres the airport was designed to accommodate the growing demand for air travel in the country and provide a seamless travel experience for about 64 million people a year it was designed with further expansion in mind too and with five runways it could if needed be further developed to be able to handle as many as 200 million people a year as it's so new Istanbul airport has A more modern and Innovative design and reflects the rich cultural heritage of Istanbul there are five concourses and currently there are just two main terminals terminal one for domestic and international flights that offer a wide range of services including duty-free shops retail outlets restaurants lounges and prayer rooms and Terminal 2 that's dedicated to domestic flights Terminal 3 is currently under construction and is part of a phase that will see it and a further three runways completed by 2027 to increase its capacity to 150 million people with its extensive Flight Network the airport connects travelers to destinations across the globe it serves as the main base for Turkish Airlines turkey's National carrier as well as hosting a total of 106 passenger and cargo airlines but from the beginning to provide efficient connections with Istanbul with a dedicated metro line and access to the country's wider Transportation Network Turkish authorities hope this will not only become the gateway to Turkey but an international Hub that connects travel around the world and in comparison to the Aging airports around Europe it seems perfectly placed to become just that there's a real focus on prioritizing passenger comfort and convenience too and with much more space than most airports as well as modern technology throughout it's one of the least stressful high-capacity airports you'll ever travel through number six Los Angeles International Airport California United States more commonly known as LAX Los Angeles International Airport is the busiest and Main International Airport on the west coast of the United States and in 2019 it handled more than 88 million passengers it covers an area of just over 3 500 acres and is made up of nine passenger terminals that each cater to different airlines and destinations it's in a neighborhood which is around 18 miles or 30 kilometers to the southwest of downtown LA when it's currently the world's busiest origin and destination airport meaning a greater proportion of passengers either begin or end their Journeys there as opposed to transitioning through the Los Angeles city council first decided that a new airport was needed in 1926 and the land was leased for what would become LAX in 1928 vast areas of farm Fields were converted into landing strips and it officially opened in October of that year the first building though was only constructed in 1921 and Hangar number one as it was called is still in use at the airport today and it was so important to the economy of the city that has been put on the national register of historic places soon becoming popular for private aircraft and flight schools the city council had grander Ambitions for the airport and invested heavily in its expansion after the second world war the 1984 Summer Olympics in the city was another reason to increase capacity and with four main runways plans are still in place to further work two more terminals are in the pipeline to give a total of 182 Gates 113 Airlines currently operate in the airport as well as countless private aircraft organizations too and it's expected that this number will only continue to increase and that within a decade LAX could well be the busiest airport in the world number five Dubai International Airport United Arab Emirates with so much investment and development in Dubai in recent years you might be expected to think that the airport there to be relatively new while it first opened in 1960 though albeit is a small landing strip that could handle an aircraft up to the size of a Douglas DC-3 it began to grow in the following years but it was a huge project of expansion works that began in 1998 that saw it grow to the size that it is today with two main runways and three terminals it's able to handle 90 million passengers a year as well as 2.6 million tons of cargo the whole airport covers a 7 200 Acre Site the terminal 3 building itself is a record breaker becoming the second largest building of any kind in the world when measured by floor space and by far the biggest airport terminal it's located around two and a half miles or 4.5 kilometers to the east of Dubai and it's been positioned as the Premier Transportation Hub in the Middle East and as evidence of how successful this has been it's now the busiest airport in the world in terms of number of international Travelers who pass through it as well as the three main passenger terminals there's also a VIP and executive flight terminal for those traveling by private jet what's described as a cargo Mega terminal which is one of the largest cargo hubs in the world and even a dedicated flower center that handles more than 300 000 tons of flowers that pass through each year in a temperature-controlled environment more than half of passengers going through the airport do so with the Emirates airlines more than a hundred other operators also offer other routes and it's believed that the airport's responsible for creating as many as four hundred thousand jobs it's seen as one of the front running airports when it comes to using Alternative Energy with Dubai's commitment to reducing energy consumption by 30 percent to help with this the airports have got a vast solar panel Network making it far less reliant on external power sources than any other airport of a comparable size number four O'Hare International Airport Illinois United States O'Hare International Airport which you may know as Chicago O'Hare is located 17 miles or about 26 kilometers to the northwest of the city's Central Loop business district and covers an area of approximately 7 600 acres with four passenger terminals eight runways a helipad and two huge cargo areas it handles around 85 million passengers in a typical year and around two and a half million tons of cargo often said to be the most connected airport in the world you can find direct flights here to more than 214 destinations across North America South America Europe Asia Africa the Middle East and oceanium and it's a hugely important Hub to World Travel originally O'Hare was an Airfield that was used by a Douglas manufacturing plant that built c-54 military transport aircraft during the second world war and the decision was made in the late 1940s to develop it further to eventually replace Chicago's Midway International Airport it was one of the first in the world to use Design Concepts such as concourses jet Bridges underground review fueling systems and a highway leading directly to the terminals and this increased its efficiency compared to other airports with both International and smaller National flights it also set a record in 2019 for averaging 2520 aircraft movements per day which no other airport has been able to surpass since for times when it's particularly busy there's also a free shuttle bus service too which together means that despite covering such a large area movement between terminals for connecting flights is pretty simple this is one of the reasons O'Hare is so popular as a Transit Hub it makes it one of the most reliable airports you can travel through it is of course got many of the facilities you'd expect from an international airport but few surprises as well in 2011 it became the only major airport in the world to have its own apiary where every summer becomes home to 75 hives and as many as a million bees they're part of an offender rehabilitation program and are looked after by ex-offenders to help them learn some marketable skills so when you're passing by the stores in the airport you may well see some locally produced honey soaps and lip balms for sale number three Denver International Airport Colorado United States set on 33 500 acres of land in Colorado around 25 miles or 40 kilometers from downtown Denver Denver International Airport is the second largest in the world when measured purely on the space that it takes up and it's the third largest in term of Passenger numbers it also has the longest commercial runway in the United States measuring just over three miles or almost five kilometers in length and between its six runways and three concourses it handles around 70 million passengers a year it first opened in 1995 to replace the other airports in the area that were running Beyond capacity and is perfectly located in the central continent position to act as a hub for travel across America and Beyond 25 different airlines operate from there offering more than 200 destinations and it's a major hub for United Airlines and Frontier Airlines as well as being Southwest Airlines largest operating base in total the airport's got more than 35 000 people working there which makes it the largest employer in the state and it's become a major Financial boost since it's opened but beyond its impressive credentials as as an airport there's another reason it's spoken about so much the terminal building designed by Fentress Bradburn Architects looks like the peaks of snow-capped mountains and it looks unlike any other airport also as a result of an initiative in Denver that insists that one percent of the budget of public buildings is spent on artwork there's a surprising amount of sculptures murals photos and paintings in the terminal including a huge bronze statue of astronaut Jack swigert who was from Denver and the Command Module pilot on Apollo 13. delays in opening of the airport along with some strange artwork that was chosen has meant Denver International has also been associated with a number of conspiracy theories mainly because of rumors that a vast network of secret tunnels was dug beneath the surface now rather than denying these the airport authorities have actually played up to the ideas in comedic ways including becoming the supernatural sister airport with the Roswell International Air Center and allowing employees to on occasion wear costumes of strange creatures and even planning on decorating the airport with crop circles to celebrate its 20th anniversary number two Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Texas found almost directly in the middle between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth in Texas Dallas-Fort Worth International is on a 17 000 acre plot of land and is such a large place that it has its own Post Office ZIP code as well as a dedicated police fire and medical emergency service 28 Airlines regularly fly from there serving 260 destinations of which 193 are domestic and 67 are international and in an average year it will see around 75 million people passing through with seven runways five Terminals and 174 Gates the DFW Skylink automated people mover system is the main way to travel around the site the airport is of course the best way to get to the huge metropolitan area of Dallas and Fort Worth with the vast majority of people are there to connect to flights to travel to elsewhere in the US or further afield this was in many ways the ultimate aim for the airport from the moment it was first built in the 1940s and since then it's been the largest hub for American Airlines the company's headquarters located nearby and it's operating almost 70 percent of all flights out of the airport currently developments are underway to expand the site even further with terminal F expected to be completed and opened by 2025 that at a cost of three and a half billion dollars we'll add 24 new gates and there are plans to refresh the other terminals add new transport links and attract more flights by low-cost Airlines such as Frontier to ensure it remains at the center of American aeronautical industry number one Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Georgia surprisingly the largest airport in the world when measured by Passenger usage isn't one of the most famous nor is it one of the largest in terms of physical size as it's the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia covering an area of 4 700 Acres it's 10 miles to the south of downtown Atlanta and caters to 94 million passengers a year the main reason for this is that it's the main Hub of Delta Airlines and is the largest airline Hub on Earth there are more than a thousand Delta flights per day to 225 different domestic and international destinations the majority of passengers using the airport aren't doing so as either the origin or destination of their journey and are instead there to catch a connecting flight and in many ways most airports in the U.S have this one to thank for making them accessible to the rest of the country the route to being this integral to the U.S transport network has been a long one with the first airport on the site being built in the 1920s it was for a long time a small Regional Airport but this all changed in 1961 with the opening of its first jet terminal Delta established itself there in the 1970s and it soon became clear that it was the ideal site for a hub and by 1998 more passengers were passing through than any other airport in the world now 43 commercial and cargo airlines operate routes from the two terminals at 192 Gates but with interest coming in from elsewhere around the world talks have begun to build a brand new terminal to further increase capacity I'll see you guys next time thank you to our channel members [Music]

Channel: Top Fives

Views: 837,484

Keywords: airport, airports

Id: 1eymObvhQiM

Length: 27min 46sec (1666 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 09 2023