Top 10 Largest Airports In the World

The air journey is the most popular way to travel from one country to another. Today, The global air transportation industry is esteemed at $686 billion, with IATA expecting 8.2 billion air travellers in 2037. Airports are leading employers, as well as important hubs for tourism and other ways of transit. Over the years, because of constantly rising passenger numbers, many airports are becoming too overcrowded. So it is becoming difficult to hold a growing number of passengers into existing airports and park all the aeroplanes in one place. Now, these old airports needed to broaden their infrastructure with new terminals and runways.

The airports provide the infrastructure for the aircraft, cargo and handle thousands of passengers every year. This infrastructure comprises a runway for a plane to take off or a helipad and includes adjoining utility buildings such as control towers, hangars and terminals. Airports also provide facilities to store and maintain aircraft and a control tower. These biggest airports in the world make you feel like you’re wandering through a city. Each year, some of these airports handle tens of millions of passengers.

These world’s largest airports have their postal code, hotels, restaurants, spas, and malls. Larger airports may have airport aprons, taxiway bridges, air traffic control centres, passenger facilities such as restaurants and lounges, and emergency services. Airports also provide moving walkways, buses, and rail transport systems to move within a large airport. A terminal is a building with passenger facilities. Small airports have one terminal. Large ones often have multiple terminals. 

Scroll through to see all Top 10 Largest Airports In the World 2021 :-

10. Suvarnabhumi Airport :-

Suvarnabhumi Airport also known as Bangkok Airport, is an international airport serving the Bangkok Metropolitan Region. Suvarnabhumi Airport covers an area of 32.4 km², making it one of the biggest international airports in Southeast Asia and a regional hub for aviation.
The airport is operated by Airports of Thailand PCL. It is located in Racha Thewa, Bang Phli, Samut Prakan and Prawet/Bang Kapi/Lat Krabang, Bangkok. It was opened on 28 September 2006. 

The airport is presently the main hub for Bangkok Airways, K-Mile Air, Thai Airways, Thai Smile, Thai Vietjet Air. The airport serves 65,424,564 passengers annually. It also operates as a regional gateway and connecting point for various foreign carriers connecting to Asia, Oceania, Europe and Africa. The airport has two parallel runways and two parallel taxiways to adjust simultaneous departures and arrivals.

9. Cairo International Airport :-

Cairo International Airport is the international airport of Cairo and the busiest airport in Egypt. It is the second busiest airport in Africa after OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces built John Payne Field Air Force Base to assist the Allied Forces, rather than take over the existing Almaza Airport located 5 kilometres away. 

The airport is currently the primary hub
for EgyptAir and Nile Air as well as several other airlines. The airport is located in Heliopolis. The airport covers an area of approximately 37 square kilometres. The airport has four terminals and a luxury 350-room five-star Le Méridien hotel. Terminal 1 was originally used by EgyptAir and several Middle Eastern airlines. The airport serves 14,711,500 passengers annually.

8. Shanghai Pudong International Airport :-

 
Shanghai Pudong International Airport is one of the two international airports in Shanghai and a major aviation hub of East Asia. Pudong Airport serves both international flights and a smaller number of domestic flights. It is located about 30 kilometres east of the city centre. Pudong Airport occupies a 40 km² site adjacent to the coastline in eastern Pudong, making it the eighth-largest airport in the world. The airport is operated by Shanghai Airport Authority. The Airport was opened on 1 October 1999. It is the third-busiest airport in China after Beijing Capital and Hong Kong Airport, fifth-busiest in Asia, and the eighth busiest in the world.

The airport is the hub for China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines, Air China, China Southern Airlines, Juneyao Airlines and Spring Airlines, and cargo hub for FedEx, UPS and DHL. Pudong Airport had two main passenger terminals, flanked on both sides by four operational parallel runways. A third passenger terminal was opened with two additional runways, which will raise its annual capacity from 60 million passengers to 80 million, along with the capacity to deal with six million tons of freight. Pudong Airport also served a total of 74,006,331 passengers annually. The airport has 162 boarding bridges along with 189 remote gates. 

7. George Bush Intercontinental Airport :-

George Bush Intercontinental Airport is an international airport located in Houston, Texas, the United States serving the Greater Houston metropolitan area. George Bush Intercontinental Airport has scheduled flights to a large number of domestic destinations and is the second busiest airport in Texas. George Bush Intercontinental Airport covers an area of 40.5 km², making it the seventh-largest international airport in the world. The airport serves 24,690,222
passengers annually. The airport is operatored by Houston Airport System.

The airport is hub for United Airlines. IAH covers 40.5 km² of land and has five runways. Houston Intercontinental Airport, which was the original name for the airport, opened in June 1969. George Bush Intercontinental Airport has five terminals and has five runways
and 161 total gates- 131 jetway gates and 30 hardstands.

6. Beijing Daxing International Airport :-

Beijing Daxing International Airport is an international airport located on the border of Beijing and Langfang, Hebei Province serving Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. The airport is Beijing's second international airport, after Beijing Capital International Airport. It has been nicknamed "the starfish". It was completed on June 30, 2019, and started operations on September 26, 2019. The airport is governed by Beijing Capital International Airport Company Limited.

The airport is a hub for Air China, Beijing Capital Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, China United Airlines, XiamenAir. It is also a hub for SkyTeam alliance airlines and some Oneworld members. After almost five years of construction, the US$11.4 billion facility features a 700,000 m² terminal, the world's largest single-building airport terminal and sits on 47 km² of land. The airport won the award of the best airport by hygiene measures in Asia-Pacific in 2020 by Airports Council International.

5. Washington Dulles International Airport :-

Washington Dulles International Airport is an international airport located in the Eastern United States. The airport is operated by Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and was opened on November 17, 1962. The airport is governed by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. Washington Dulles Airport occupies 52.6 km².

The airport is a hub for Southern Airways Express and United Airlines and serves 8,333,460 passengers yearly. The airport's terminal complex consists of the main terminal and two parallel midfield terminal buildings: Concourses A/B and C/D. The entire terminal complex has 139 total gates: 123 gates with jetways and 16 hardstand locations

4. Orlando International Airport :-

Orlando International Airport is a major public airport located in Florida. It dealt 50,613,072 passengers, making it the busiest airport in the state and the tenth busiest airport in the United States. It is operated by Greater Orlando Aviation Authority and serves 21,617,803 passengers annually. The airfield was originally established as a U.S. Army Air Forces facility and military operations started in 1942 as Orlando Army Air Field.

The airport serves as a hub for Silver Airways, an operating base for JetBlue, Southwest Airlines and Spirit Airlines, as well as a focus city for Frontier Airlines. The airport is home to a maintenance base for United Airlines. The airport also serves 135 domestic and international destinations. At 12,600 acres MCO is one of the largest commercial airports in terms of land area in the United States. The airport features an on-site Hyatt Regency hotel within the main terminal structure. 

3. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport :-

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is the primary international airport serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area located in the U.S. state of Texas. The airport was the fourth-busiest airport by passenger traffic in the world in 2020. The airport is operated by DFW Airport Board. The airport was opened on September 23, 1973. It is the third-busiest airport in the world by aircraft movements and the fourth-busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic. It is the ninth-busiest international gateway in the United States and the second-busiest international gateway in Texas. 

The airport is a hub for American Airlines, Ameriflight, UPS Airlines and serves 39,364,990 passengers yearly. It is the largest hub for American Airlines, which is headquartered near the airport.
American Airlines at DFW is the second-largest single airline hub in the world and the United States, behind Delta's Atlanta hub. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport has five terminals and 184 gates. It also features the Hyatt Regency DFW Airport hotel and the 298-room Grand Hyatt DFW Hotel.

2. Denver International Airport :-

Denver International Airport is an international airport located in the Western United States serving metropolitan Denver, Colorado, as well as the greater Front Range Urban Corridor. With around 135.7 km² area, it is the largest airport in North America by land area and the second-largest in the world, behind King Fahd International Airport. The airport is operated by the City & County of Denver Department of Aviation. The airport was opened on February 28, 1995, and serves 33,741,129 passengers annually.

The airport is a hub for both United Airlines and Frontier Airlines and a base for Southwest Airlines. With over 35,000 employees, the airport is the largest employer in Colorado. Runway 16R/34L, with a length of 4.88 km, is the longest public use runway in North America and the seventh longest in the world. The airport is 40 km driving distance from Downtown Denver, which is 31 km farther away than the former Stapleton International Airport, the airport DIA displaced.

1. King Fahd International Airport :-

King Fahd International Airport is an international airport located in Dammam serving Dammam, Saudi Arabia. It is named after the former King of Saudi Arabia, Fahd ibn Abdulaziz. The airport serves the entire Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and is one of the three primary international airports in the kingdom. The airport is operated by Dammam Airports Company and opened on 28 November 1999. King Fahd International is also the largest airport in the world by area, with the area of the airport property being an estimated 776 km², even though the airport building itself is just 36.75 km².

It is the third-largest airport in the kingdom by passenger volume, more than 10 million passengers use King Fahd International each year, and 37 airlines operate flights in and out of the airport. The airport is hub for Flynas, SaudiGulf Airlines, Saudia, Aramco Aviation and serves 9,690,000 passengers yearly.
The airport has two runways; with a length of 4 km each, and consists of three terminal buildings: the Passenger Terminal serves mainstream passengers, the Aramco Terminal is used by Aramco employees to board Saudi Aramco Aviation flights and the Royal Terminal is dedicated for use by the Saudi royal family.