Top 10 Busiest Airports in the World (Most Passengers)

The undisputed king of aviation. Atlanta is a transfer machine. It isn't so much a destination where people go on holiday, but the perfect crossroads for flying from North to South America or from east to west. The airport is designed extremely efficiently with parallel runways, allowing several planes to land at the same time.

Dubai is the fastest riser at the top and is now breathing down Atlanta's neck. It is the busiest airport for international traffic. Because Dubai sits strategically between Europe, Asia and Africa, Emirates uses it as the ultimate stopover. The terminals are gigantic, luxurious and open 24/7; it is as busy here at 3 a.m. as it is during the day.

The home base of American Airlines. DFW is already enormous in area, and now in passengers too. After the pandemic, this airport grew explosively. It serves as the main gateway to the southern US and Latin America.

The busiest airport in Europe. Heathrow has been running at maximum capacity for years with just two runways (the debate about a third runway has been going on for decades). Despite the lack of space, it manages to handle huge numbers of passengers, especially on routes to New York and Asia.

Tokyo has two airports (Narita and Haneda), but Haneda is by far the busiest because it is much closer to the city center. It is consistently known as one of the cleanest and most punctual airports in the world. Even with almost 80 million passengers a year, it rarely feels chaotic.

Denver is a surprise for many in this top 10. Its growth comes mainly from its central location in the US and the focus of airlines like United and Southwest. Because the airport has so much space (it is the largest in the US by area), it can easily grow without being bothered by neighbors or noise rules.

This new mega-airport was built with one goal: to become the biggest in the world. Turkish Airlines has created a hub here that competes directly with Dubai and London. Passenger numbers are growing faster here than almost anywhere else in Europe, thanks to its location at the crossroads of East and West.

Unlike Atlanta (where everyone transfers), LAX is a true 'origin and destination' airport: people start or end their journey here. It is the gateway to Asia and the Pacific. The horseshoe-shaped road along the terminals is notorious for its eternal traffic jams.

For years this was the busiest airport in the world (before Atlanta took that title). It is a crucial hub for United Airlines. O'Hare is known for its complex web of intersecting runways, although these have recently been modernized into parallel runways to reduce delays – which Chicago is notorious for.

The newcomer to the world top. Delhi represents India's economic rise. With airlines like IndiGo ordering hundreds of new aircraft, air traffic in India is growing exponentially. Delhi recently opened new terminals to cope with the huge influx of domestic and international travelers.