There are some pretty famous airports out there... well if not famous they are at
least internationally known... JFK airport may not be the busiest airport in the world, but it is one
of the best known that's for sure. Heathrow airport probably handles more international passengers than
any other airport in the world... What makes these places so busy? Travelers like you, so keep it up!
Here are the world's busiest airports ranked by passenger numbers, January - December 2008.
Information supplied by Airports Council International, the organization that represents most of the world's major airports.
| Rank |
Airport |
Location |
Code
(IATA/ICAO) |
Total
passengers |
Rank
Change |
%
Change |
| 1. |
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport |
Atlanta, Georgia, United States |
ATL/KATL |
90,039,280 |
▬ |
▲0.7% |
| 2. |
O'Hare International Airport |
Chicago, Illinois, United States |
ORD/KORD |
69,353,876 |
▬ |
▼9.0% |
| 3. |
London Heathrow Airport |
Hillingdon, Greater London, United Kingdom |
LHR/EGLL |
67,056,379 |
▬ |
▼1.5% |
| 4. |
Tokyo International Airport |
Ōta, Tokyo, Japan |
HND/RJTT |
66,754,829 |
▬ |
▼0.2% |
| 5. |
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport |
Roissy-en-France, Val d'Oise, Île-de-France, France |
CDG/LFPG |
60,874,681 |
▲1 |
▲1.6% |
| 6. |
Los Angeles International Airport |
Los Angeles, California, United States |
LAX/KLAX |
59,497,539 |
▼1 |
▼4.7% |
| 7. |
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport |
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, United States |
DFW/KDFW |
57,093,187 |
▬ |
▼4.5% |
| 8. |
Beijing Capital International Airport |
Chaoyang, Beijing, People's Republic of China |
PEK/ZBAA |
55,937,289 |
▲1 |
▲4.4% |
| 9. |
Frankfurt Airport |
Flughafen (Frankfurt am Main), Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany |
FRA/EDDF |
53,467,450 |
▼1 |
▼1.3% |
| 10. |
Denver International Airport |
Denver, Colorado, United States |
DEN/KDEN |
51,245,334 |
▲1 |
▲2.8% |
| 11. |
Madrid-Barajas Airport |
Barajas, Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain |
MAD/LEMD |
50,824,435 |
▼1 |
▼2.4% |
| 12. |
Hong Kong International Airport |
Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong |
HKG/VHHH |
47,857,746 |
▲2 |
▲1.7% |
| 13. |
John F. Kennedy International Airport |
Queens, New York City, New York, United States |
JFK/KJFK |
47,807,816 |
▬ |
▲0.2% |
| 14. |
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol |
Haarlemmermeer, North Holland, Netherlands |
AMS/EHAM |
47,430,019 |
▼2 |
▼0.8% |
| 15. |
McCarran International Airport |
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States |
LAS/KLAS |
43,208,724 |
▬ |
▼8.0% |
| 16. |
George Bush Intercontinental Airport |
Houston, Texas, United States |
IAH/KIAH |
41,709,389 |
▬ |
▼3.0% |
| 17. |
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport |
Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona, United States |
PHX/KPHX |
39,891,193 |
▬ |
▼5.4% |
| 18. |
Suvarnabhumi Airport |
Racha Thewa, Bang Phli, Samut Prakan, Greater Bangkok, Thailand |
BKK/VTBS |
38,603,490 |
▬ |
▼6.3% |
| 19. |
Singapore Changi Airport |
Changi, East Region, Singapore |
SIN/WSSS |
37,694,824 |
▬ |
▲2.7% |
| 20. |
Dubai International Airport |
Garhoud, Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
DXB/OMDB |
37,441,440 |
▲7 |
▲9.0% |
| 21. |
San Francisco International Airport |
San Mateo County, California, United States |
SFO/KSFO |
37,234,592 |
▲2 |
▲4.7% |
| 22. |
Orlando International Airport |
Orlando, Florida, United States |
MCO/KMCO |
35,660,742 |
▼2 |
▼2.3% |
| 23. |
Newark Liberty International Airport |
Newark, New Jersey, United States |
EWR/KEWR |
35,360,848 |
▼2 |
▼2.8% |
| 24. |
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport |
Detroit, Michigan, United States |
DTW/KDTW |
35,135,828 |
▼2 |
▼2.4% |
| 25. |
Leonardo da Vinci Airport |
Fiumicino, Rome, Lazio, Italy |
FCO/LIRF |
35,132,224 |
▲? |
▲6.9% |
| 26. |
Charlotte Douglas International Airport |
Charlotte, North Carolina, United States |
CLT/KCLT |
34,739,020 |
▲4 |
▲4.7% |
| 27. |
Munich Airport |
Erding, Bavaria, Germany |
MUC/EDDM |
34,530,593 |
▲1 |
▲1.7% |
| 28. |
London Gatwick Airport |
Crawley, West Sussex, South East, England, United Kingdom |
LGW/EGKK |
34,214,740 |
▼6 |
▼2.9% |
| 29. |
Miami International Airport |
Miami, Florida,United States |
MIA/KMIA |
34,063,531 |
▬ |
▲1.0% |
| 30. |
Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport |
Fort Snelling, Minnesota,United States |
MSP/KMSP |
34,056,443 |
▬ |
▼3.0% |
|
|
