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World's Busiest Airports

Can you name the cities that are served by the world's 50 busiest airports?
Based on # passengers, 2018. Source.
Quiz by relessness
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Last updated: October 24, 2019
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First submittedAugust 20, 2012
Times taken150,444
Average score66.0%
Rating4.86
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#
City
107 m
Atlanta
101 m
Beijing
89.1 m
Dubai
87.5 m
Los Angeles
87.5 m
Tokyo (Haneda)
83.3 m
Chicago
80.1 m
London (Heathrow)
74.5 m
Hong Kong
74.0 m
Shanghai (Pudong)
72.2 m
Paris
71.0 m
Amsterdam
69.9 m
Delhi
69.8 m
Guangzhou
69.5 m
Frankfurt
69.1 m
Dallas
68.4 m
Seoul
68.2 m
Istanbul
#
City
66.9 m
Jakarta
65.6 m
Singapore
64.5 m
Denver
63.4 m
Bangkok
61.6 m
New York (JFK)
60.0 m
Kuala Lumpur
57.9 m
Madrid
57.7 m
San Francisco
53.0 m
Chengdu
50.1 m
Barcelona
49.9 m
Mumbai
49.9 m
Las Vegas
49.8 m
Seattle
49.5 m
Toronto
49.3 m
Shenzhen
47.7 m
Mexico City
47.7 m
Orlando
#
City
47.2 m
Kunming
46.6 m
Taipei
46.4 m
Charlotte
46.4 m
London (Gatwick)
46.3 m
Munich
46.0 m
New York (Newark)
45.8 m
Moscow (Sheremetyevo)
45.0 m
Miami
44.9 m
Phoenix
44.7 m
Xi'an
44.5 m
Manila
44.5 m
Sydney
43.8 m
Houston
43.6 m
Shanghai (Hongqiao)
43.0 m
Rome
42.6 m
Tokyo (Narita)
+3
Level 34
Nov 28, 2014
i've been to 14
+5
Level 82
Dec 8, 2014
I've used 23 of these airports before. Though when I can I prefer to drive. Atlanta, Heathrow, Haneda (and Narita), O'Hare, LAX, Dubai (and Sharjah), Paris, Hong Kong, Changi (best airport in the world), Amsterdam, Denver (layover only), Bangkok, JFK, San Francisco, Charlotte (layover), Seoul (Incheon and the smaller one actually in Seoul), Houston, Delhi, Gatwick (I think, maybe it was Stansted), Orlando, SeaTac, and Manila (all 4 terminals! Some are better than others. :P).
+1
Level 90
Nov 13, 2015
To date, I've flown to or through 18 - JFK, Newark, Paris, LAX, Chicago, Rome, Miami, SFO, Dallas, Atlanta, Toronto, Dubai, Frankfurt, Houston, Seattle, Denver, Vegas, and Orlando.
+1
Level 82
Nov 22, 2016
Wow I flew to/from 10 of them, quite a lot considering I don't fly much around the world: LAX, JFK, Denver, Dallas, Madrid, Barcelona, Heathrow&Gatwick, Frankfurt, Moscow. And a visit to Istanbul airport.
+1
Level 82
Nov 29, 2016
I've since been to the airport in Moscow several times. So 24...
+1
Level 82
Apr 6, 2017
And now I've been to Leonardo da Vinci airport in Rome, so I've been to 50% of these.
+1
Level 82
Nov 3, 2017
Recent layover in Kuala Lumpur and I'm at 26.
+10
Level 65
Dec 8, 2017
Ok, no need to brag
+3
Level 82
Dec 8, 2017
Do people brag about their layovers? :D
+6
Level 49
Jun 9, 2020
Don't leave us hanging, Kal. It's been 2 1/2 years...did you make it to #27?
+2
Level 82
Jul 23, 2020
Fish: I did, actually. Have not done nearly as much traveling as usual the last couple years but I did fly to Miami twice. So that's # 27.
+1
Level 82
Mar 21, 2022
#28 - Madrid
+2
Level 82
Dec 8, 2017
No new ones for me this year (from top 50), but 3 are booked for next year :)
+1
Level 95
Sep 24, 2018
I've been through 23 so far and I have plans that will take me to four more within the next year.
+7
Level 82
Nov 19, 2018
^ see? Clearly we're not bragging. This guy's name is "Modestus"
+3
Level 78
Nov 2, 2019
38 for me. Hence my Jetpunk bame
+3
Level 82
Jan 26, 2020
What's in a bame?
+1
Level 67
Sep 22, 2021
I've been to 12.
+3
Level 58
Mar 8, 2015
Can someone tell me why Atlanta is so busy? Like what's so important about Georgia?
+13
Level 47
Mar 8, 2015
Atlanta is the main hub airport for Delta, which is the second largest airline in the world (haven been overtaken recently by American Airlines when it merged with US Airways). It is situated between the the North East, Texas and Florida which together account for about a third of the United States' population. As a result, Delta often uses Atlanta for lay overs for many of its domestic and international passengers. It's also why airports such as Charlotte and Denver have such busy airports compared to their city sizes - they're used as hubs.
+5
Level 75
Nov 13, 2015
Sometimes it almost seems as though one cannot fly anywhere in the US without a layover in Atlanta.
+18
Level ∞
Nov 13, 2015
Unless your final destination is Atlanta. Then you'll have to connect in Phoenix.
+1
Level 55
Nov 15, 2015
^ Haha! Ain't it the truth.
+1
Level 59
Dec 8, 2017
I was going to ask the same thing. From a British perspective, we generally catch flights to the US via NY, LAX, Vegas Baby, or Miami (those being the main tourist destinations). I don't think I've ever heard anyone I know fly to or via Atlanta, so it was a bit of a surprise to me how high up Atlanta was. You live and learn :-)
+1
Level 52
Dec 8, 2017
I once had to go from Boston to Pittsburgh but the plane went from Boston to Atlanta, then back to Pittsburgh. Seems a bit unnecessary.
+1
Level 89
Oct 30, 2019
Yeah I live in Virginia and I once took a trip to Naples, Florida. But I had to go to Boston first, then Florida. Airlines are weird.
+1
Level 57
May 15, 2021
don't fly into the Naples Airport, or Tampa for that matter. Miami / Orlando is cheaper and easier to get to.
+1
Level 82
Nov 29, 2016
^mostly the hub thing. Also Atlanta is one of the most-visited cities in the United States. There are many business conferences and exhibitions there. And, though it is only the 13th largest city in America, it's still at the center of an urban area of 5.5 million people, and Americans fly a lot.
+3
Level 51
Dec 8, 2017
Lots of things make Atlanta a good place for an airport. It's between eastern Canada and the Caribbean, so layovers happen there often. It's also well-placed for flights from New York and Pennsylvania. It's very large because Atlanta city space isn't at a premium (just look at Macy's), which means more planes can land and take off from there. Atlanta has large suburbs and most of the people who live in them commute to the city, meaning that they are used to noise pollution, so outcry is rare. The city is (relatively) near to other major ones, such as Miami, Tampa, New Orleans, and (though further, still single-flight) Mexico City, Houston, and Austin. And Atlanta lies near numerous favourable air currents, speeding travel in and out (especially the Gulf Stream). None of these things alone makes a good airport, but the combination of them all is what made Hartsfield-Jackson so popular.
+4
Level 71
Dec 8, 2017
Mainly that is has a massive, multi purpose hub for Delta. Atlanta is used for Trans-Atlantic connections, connections to Latin America, connections from the East Coast to Texas and the Southwest, connection from the East Coast to Florida (that's a big one), and direct flights to Atlanta (which is a large market considering tourism and business in a somewhat large metro area). Also, Atlanta has only one airport, compared to New York's seven. Lastly, Atlanta is in close enough proximity to many cities for a short flight (e.g. Charlotte, New Orleans, and touristy places in Florida), but not close enough for a short drive (like between, say, Boston-Bridgeport-New York-etc.)!
+3
Level 82
Jul 22, 2019
Also I heard they have a lovely Hooters
+1
Level 75
Feb 12, 2024
Still going through puberty? I wish you well when you finally hit adulthood.
+1
Level 48
Apr 7, 2015
Hi everyone! Why not trying one of mine? I have the European version... :)
+1
Level 54
Aug 26, 2015
I wonder what the Port Authority has been drinking, or at least what their source I don't understand the absence of some locations like Vancouver and Singapore.
+3
Level 47
Oct 12, 2015
... Singapore is on the list, and Vancouver's Airport is smaller than Moscow (with is 50th)
+1
Level 69
Jun 11, 2016
I suspect that most of the international traffic you'd expect to come in and out of Vancouver is already handled by Seattle, and because their so close, Vancouver just didn't try to replicate it. (Please note, that is just my personal theory, unsubstantiated by actual research.)
+1
Level 82
Dec 8, 2017
Vancouver is around 22 million, still far from top 50
+1
Level 57
Nov 13, 2015
Surprised Phoenix is so high - and I used it 4 times monthly for a couple of years!
+1
Level 74
Nov 13, 2015
I got all but #2 and was wondering what city it could possibly be when I realized I mistyped Beijing.
+1
Level 47
Nov 13, 2015
Don't forget to check out my Worlds busiest airport systems quiz. Looks at each cities combines airport passenger usage rather than just the individual airport.
+1
Level 86
Nov 13, 2015
I only missed Minneapolis, and must have mispelled Sao Paulo because it was not validated though I tried it.
+2
Level 59
Nov 13, 2015
Hi, I'm one of those morons in the 1% who forgot NYC. Derp.
+1
Level 22
Nov 16, 2015
Congrats! I managed to get it ;)
+1
Level 57
Nov 13, 2015
Newark is in NJ not NY.
+4
Level 82
Nov 14, 2015
This isn't about the states that these airports are in, it's about which major cities these airports service.
+13
Level 22
Nov 16, 2015
No Newark is in Nottinghamshire
+2
Level 55
Nov 15, 2015
I was surprised Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro weren't on the list. Anyone know why? (Honest question; the cities are so big I would have assumed they'd have busy airports).
+1
Level 82
Nov 16, 2015
I'm guessing because they're kind of at the southwesternmost edge of the map... there's probably not a lot of transit flights going through either city. I mean, flights that use the airport in Rio or Buenos Aires are probably almost exclusively flights that are terminating in or originating from those cities, as opposed to all of the top answers which are huge hubs of international travel with many millions of people using each airport simply for a layover on their way somewhere else (and also, with the possible exception of Dubai, giant cities in their own right).

Sao Paulo makes the list. But it's urban area population is twice that of Rio or Buenos Aires. If you cut the amount of traffic for Sao Paulo in half for these other cities then obviously they wouldn't be seeing as much traffic as Moscow.

+1
Level 65
Nov 15, 2015
Of course all of the ones I missed are in the US...................................
+1
Level 76
Nov 16, 2015
Where does Mecca come? I would have thought with the constant volume of pilgrims there would be a heap of flights to there.
+1
Level 47
Nov 17, 2015
Mecca is served by Jeddah airport which handles 27 million passengers a year
+1
Level 82
Nov 18, 2015
What relessness said. Mecca has no airport.
+1
Level 92
Nov 18, 2015
Consider accepting St Paul for Minneapolis?
+1
Level 37
Apr 6, 2016
I can never spell Kuala Lumpur...
+1
Level 49
May 16, 2016
how did I miss Paris *facepalm*
+1
Level 31
Jan 17, 2017
I missed London, I kept trying to put Heathrow.
+1
Level 63
Feb 7, 2017
I got Shenzhen but I missed Amsterdam!
+4
Level 39
Mar 29, 2017
*gets Charlotte* *misses Paris*
+1
Level 57
May 25, 2017
Great quiz! Check also my new "Best airports of the World 2016" based on Lonely Planet survey.
+1
Level 35
Jun 11, 2017
Missed a couple of obvious ones, after a while it just became an exercise in naming big cities!
+1
Level 77
Sep 10, 2017
very surprised at exclusion of Moscow and Sao Paolo . . .
+2
Level 82
Dec 8, 2017
Moscow has 3 major airports, actually 3 busiest in Russia, and even so it almost makes the list. Here are the numbers for 2015:

Sheremetyevo 31.6 m

Domodedovo 30.5 m

Vnukovo 15.82 m

There's also Zhukovsky, new airport opened in 2016, with 4 million declared capacity.

+1
Level 82
Dec 8, 2017
And there would've been a lot more without visa issues. St Petersburg is at only 13 million.
+1
Level 55
Dec 15, 2017
Likewise for Sao Paulo - three international airports with a total of over 66 million - the busiest (Guarulhos) at 36.6 million just misses the list.
+3
Level 83
Sep 23, 2017
That moment when you have loads of gaps left, and you suddenly realise you'd forgotten the entirety of Europe...
+1
Level 41
Nov 4, 2017
surely just JFK should be accepted
+1
Level 66
Mar 15, 2020
That isn't a city, read the description before commenting please (which would cut complaints in half, atleast)
+1
Level 51
Dec 8, 2017
Saw an article yesterday about why Abu Dhabi has an F1 Grand Prix but Dubai does not. Wondered why they would both have one (being in the same country) until I say this quiz. It is kind of odd with the knowledge that Dubai has the third-largest airport in the world.
+1
Level 51
Jan 9, 2018
*saw
+1
Level 66
Dec 8, 2017
I knew Chicago wasn't the busiest airport in the world anymore, but I didn't realize it had fallen THAT far.
+1
Level 74
Dec 8, 2017
The Pearl River Delta must have like 200 million combined. Mind blown,
+1
Level 49
Dec 8, 2017
Can someone explain to me why "Canton" worked as an input for Guangzhou?
+3
Level 56
Dec 9, 2017
Canton is an old name for the city of Guangzhou (and also the province of Guangdong).
+2
Level 55
Dec 15, 2017
Which is why the IATA code is "CAN"
+3
Level 82
Dec 11, 2017
Curiously Peking does not work for Beijing.
+1
Level 72
May 22, 2018
41/50, got Kunming as well :D
+1
Level 48
May 28, 2018
40/50 missed quite a lot, like Denver and Seattle...
+1
Level 27
Jul 29, 2018
Moscow has three area airports and served ~76,000,000 in 2016 and ~89,000,000 in 2017. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_busiest_airports_in_Russia.

Just Sheremetyevo alone was 40,000,000 in 2017.

+2
Level 82
Jul 22, 2019
I think they were on the quiz previously. But the data used is from 2016 and the answers are single airports not airport systems.
+1
Level 35
Apr 29, 2019
43/50.
+1
Level 70
Jul 22, 2019
I got everything but Phoenix Vegas and Manila
+1
Level 70
Jul 22, 2019
WTF
+1
Level 50
Dec 25, 2019
Missed 3 Chinese ones. Good stuff

Chengdu

Xian

Kumning

+1
Level 51
Jan 30, 2020
Got all of them correct!
+1
Level 66
Mar 14, 2020
Did pretty well! Missed kunming (first time I see it), shenzhen chengdu, charlotte, orlando, taipei and las vegas. Could have gotten the last 2 but not the others.

Pretty proud since I hardly typed in any wrong ones (did try 3 big s-american cities, rio, sao pãolo and buenos aires, and another in japan, top 3 africa, a couple of europe and berlin. Think that were most of my wrong guessed)

+2
Level 34
Apr 20, 2020
I just knew Atlanta would be on top. I have been to that airport many times and there is always traffic there. If you are driving on a highway that goes near it like I-85 I-75, or I-285 I swear you will have seen so many planes taking off and landing by the time you have completely passed by it. Also, the TSA line there takes forever. Longest line for TSA I have ever been through.
+1
Level 57
Dec 7, 2020
Its Delta and Americans hub for the US I believe, most of their traffic goes through Atlanta
+1
Level 69
May 17, 2020
Great quiz! Just to say that the source link doesn't seem to work for me.
+3
Level ∞
May 17, 2020
Replaced it with an archive.org link. These quizzes are not going to be updated for awhile since the numbers are going to be very weird until we are done with Covid.
+1
Level 42
Jun 19, 2020
50/50 IM 11
+2
Level 53
Sep 22, 2021
56/50 IM AN UNBORN ALIEN ORGANISM
+1
Level 48
Jul 7, 2020
Sao Paulo?
+3
Level 75
Jan 11, 2021
Well this quiz might have changed a tad over the last year...
+1
Level 59
Jan 16, 2021
I missed Sydney, Amsterdam and Taipei but managed to get Kunming...
+1
Level 62
Mar 30, 2021
I got Kunming but missed Mumbai and Barcelona🤦‍♂️
+1
Level 54
Apr 16, 2021
Had to look up Kunming, is that a layover spot? Apparently it's under 7 million people, so my only other guess is tourist destination. Great quiz though
+2
Level 82
May 15, 2021
Are you from China? Where else in the world would "under 7 million people" not seem like an astronomical number? Atlanta (#1 on the list) only has a metro area of 6 million.
+1
Level 46
Aug 2, 2021
Im Chinese and I flew through Kunming three times both as layover and destination. Yunnan is one of the most popular tourist areas for Chinese people and also China Eastern uses it as a base for Southeast asia as well as many european and middle eastern countries (I was on layover to Dubai my first trip there)
+1
Level 67
Sep 22, 2021
Lol forgot New York.
+1
Level 14
Oct 14, 2021
You got Narita and Haneda mixed up. Narita is the international airport and Haneda is mostly domestic.
+1
Level 44
Jun 14, 2022
dubai :) my city
+1
Level 44
Jul 28, 2022
Considering Newark is an entirely separate city and is known as Newark Liberty International Airport (in New Jersey), I wouldn't put that under New York and I would make it a separate option.
+1
Level 78
Oct 28, 2022
42/50 gives me 4 points and takes me to level 75.
+1
Level 66
Nov 26, 2022
I have a southern hemisphere version of this quiz if anyone is interested : https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/156455/busiest-airports-in-the-southern-hemisphere
+1
Level 64
Dec 3, 2022
Really surprised about Manila
+1
Level 21
Jan 11, 2023
50/50 Still in the womb
+1
Level 62
Oct 27, 2023
If you ever feel stupid: I missed Munich... My hometown.
+1
Level 62
Nov 27, 2023
How did I get everything except Istanbul, Bangkok, and Madrid?????