Air transport is the youngest mode of transportation. But, despite this, he has already managed to establish himself on the positive side. Its popularity is growing every year. This is facilitated by a number of characteristic advantages.
Advantages and disadvantages of traveling by plane:
- High speed of movement, which allows you to cover long distances in a short time;
- Traveling by plane is less tiring than by train or bus due to the significant reduction in travel time;
- Airplanes are characterized by a high level of passenger service: they offer food, drinks, movies, the press and other entertainment;
- The most comfortable conditions for staying in the cabin are created, comfortable seats provide the opportunity to have a good rest and sleep;
- A romantic mood is created by beautiful views from the porthole;
- Tickets can be easily booked by phone or online at the most convenient time;
- By plane it is possible to reach places inaccessible to land transport.
Along with this, there are some disadvantages, the main one of which is the high cost of tickets. The check-in and baggage inspection procedure causes some discomfort, sometimes there is a need for a transfer, flights are canceled in bad weather, and some people cannot fly due to health conditions. There is turbulence that causes fear.
Airport and its significance
The use of air transport without air hubs is impossible. Here the process of boarding and disembarking passengers, waiting for the flight, check-in, and baggage drop-off takes place. Airports around the world strive to provide a high level of service to their customers and offer a wide variety of services. Airports differ from each other in their size. An air hub can be large or not very large. They are usually located near large cities.
The main criteria for determining the size of an airport are:
- The area of the take-off and landing complex;
- Passenger traffic sizes;
- The amount of cargo turnover.
Every year, various organizations determine the ranking of the 10 largest airports in the world. All indicators are taken into account, but most attention is paid to the size of passenger traffic and cargo turnover, due to the fact that the occupied space may not be used to the maximum. But demand indicators provide an accurate description and determine the place of the airport in the ranking. Let's look at the top 10 most popular air hubs in 2017, and also find out which is the largest airport in the world.
X Dallas/Fort Worth International Hub
Dallas Airport was built in Texas, USA, between the two cities of Fort and Worth. This is where another name comes from. It has huge areas at its disposal: seven runways for takeoff and landing and an additional pad for helicopters. This provides it with fourth place in the ranking of the largest air hubs by area. It ranks tenth in terms of passenger traffic.
Dallas Airport serves more than 130 domestic flights and 35 international flights, with passenger traffic of approximately 60 million people. Most of its activities are related to the transportation of goods, which does not prevent it from developing in the direction of serving passengers.
IX Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris
Located 25 km from Paris, it is the main air hub of France, construction was completed in 1974. It was named after the politician Charles de Gaulle. Every day, the air hub serves 1,400 flights, has four takeoff and landing lanes, and handles approximately 60 million people throughout the year. He holds the ninth position in the ranking.
On its square there are many entertainment venues where you can have fun while waiting for your flight. These are shops, bars and cafes. The airport is operated by Aeroports de Paris, which also operates two other Paris air hubs.
VIII Soekarno Hatta International Airport, Jakarta
On the island of Java near Jakarta there is another one of the largest air hubs in the world, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. This is the main air hub of Indonesia, named after the country's first president, Sukarno, and first vice-president, Hata.
There are two takeoff and landing strips, capable of accommodating all types of aircraft. The airport is distinguished by its rapid development and punctuality. The flow of passengers is growing from year to year, more than eighty percent of flights depart without delay and are received without delay.
The airport has the unofficial name Chengkareng; flights operate from its territory throughout the country and abroad. The largest number of destinations are located in Asia; there are also flights to countries such as Australia, Turkey, and the Netherlands.
VII Los Angeles International Airport
When listing significant airports in the world, it is worth remembering another US air hub, which is located on the East Coast near Los Angeles. It has four takeoff and landing strips and nine terminals. Passenger traffic is approximately 60 million people per year. The structure of the airport building is a special design that makes it very convenient for visitors.
Flights are operated to such destinations as Europe, Asia, and America. There is also a cargo terminal and a helicopter pad.
The most popular airport in Europe is London Heathrow, which connects the city with 170 airports around the world. The most saturated is the New York direction. The airport has only two lanes, but thanks to good coordination in work, its productivity is very high.
A certain discomfort among employees and clients is caused by the location of the airport at an altitude of only 25 meters above sea level, which, given the characteristic fogs over London, often makes the runways completely invisible.
Important! When leaving the plane, you must follow the arrival signs. This will make it easier to navigate a large area and save time.
V Haneda Airport, Tokyo
Tokyo is served by two air hubs, one of which is Haneda. Most international flights operate at another air hub. But despite this, Haneda has a passenger traffic of over 60 million people per year. She holds fifth position in the list of world leaders. Moreover, this happens mainly due to domestic flights. International transportation is carried out to Paris, Shanghai, Frankfurt, Honolulu, Hong Kong and Seoul.
Additional Information. There is a hotel on the airport grounds, and several others are located nearby.
IV O'Hare International Airport in Chicago
O'Hare International Airport is located 29 km northwest of Chicago. It rightfully occupies fourth position in the list of the largest air hubs in the world.
Until recently, it was ranked first, but some restrictions were received due to frequent flight delays. It has 7 runways for takeoff and landing, some of which intersect, which makes it impossible to use them simultaneously.
The airport is one of the most favorite for most visitors. Here, passenger service is at the highest level: there are four sectors and nine halls. Further modernization and expansion of the terminal's capabilities is planned.
Additional Information. The filming of films and entertainment shows often takes place on the territory of the airfield. The most popular of them is “Home Alone”.
III Dubai International Airport
Third place in the ranking of airports in the world with the largest number of visitors belongs to the rapidly developing Dubai Airport. It is the most significant civil aviation hub in the United Arab Emirates. You can get to it in 10 minutes from the city center.
It has two runways and passenger traffic is about 60 million passengers per year. It belongs to the largest airline, Emirates, which operates the maximum number of Boeing 777 aircraft.
There are four human terminals and one cargo terminal. There is a medical center, premises for children and believers, and transport links with the city are well regulated.
II Capital International Airport in Beijing
The second place in the world belongs to the Chinese Beijing airport. It was the first in China; it opened in 1958 and was reconstructed three times. The most powerful in Asia. Visitors are provided with more than 80 food outlets. Moreover, the authorities carefully ensure that the cost of food is the same as in the city.
It has three terminals and a runway designed to accommodate aircraft of any size, including the Airbus A380. The airport terminal is constantly being modernized and the level of customer service is being improved.
Note! All passengers must receive boarding passes at Terminal 3C, and only then international passengers board at Terminal 3E, and local passengers at 3D.
Between the terminal buildings there is fast transportation using buses that depart from the departure point every 10 minutes from 8 am to 8 pm and every 20 minutes the rest of the time, namely from six in the morning to ten in the evening. The airport is connected to Beijing by an expressway, along which you can reach the center of the metropolis in 40 minutes.
I Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
The largest international airport in the world is located in the USA at a distance of a little more than 10 km from the capital of Georgia - Atlanta. It is the leader in passenger traffic and also holds the leading position in the number of takeoffs and landings. The airport has been a leader since 2007, and passenger traffic is more than 90 million passengers per year.
The air hub has five runways for takeoff and landing, which ensures the safety of landing and takeoff for several aircraft at the same time. Flights operate in almost all directions. This is the south and north of America, Asia, Africa, Europe. It is named after its founder, William Hartsfield, and the former Anglo-American mayor, Maynard Jackson. Most of all traffic is carried out within the country, as Americans prefer air transport.
The largest airport terminal has a developed infrastructure; visitors can use exchange offices, shops, hotels, cafes, and children's areas. There are two terminals - North and South, where passengers can check in or receive luggage. Between the terminals there is an open area, on the territory of which there are benches for rest, various tenants, and a bank. Beyond that is a security checkpoint, a rental car business, and a MARTA transit station.
The terminal area is more than 500,000 square meters. m and is formed from the following components:
- The North Terminal is used for registering passengers and purchasing travel documents;
- The South Terminal performs similar functions on the opposite side of the building;
- Concourses A, B, C, D, E allow you to board domestic flights;
- Hall T is used for baggage claim;
- The international terminal carries out registration of passengers, sale of travel documents and access to international flights.
The halls and terminals are connected to each other by an underground passenger movement system. Eleven trains, consisting of four cars, run every 2 minutes. For fans there are moving sidewalks.
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The world's largest airports, in a competitive environment, are constantly striving to improve the quality of service and attract the maximum number of visitors.
The diligent Chinese have built up the country with skyscrapers, shopping malls, roads and bridges, and now they have set about building the largest airport in the world! It is being built, of course, according to the design of Zaha Hadid. The new airport will be located near Beijing and is planned to open in two years. In the meantime, you can watch the construction process. At the end of June, contractors completed the installation of steel structures that will form the basis of the new airport building.
Zaha Hadid presented the project for a new Beijing airport under the unofficial name Daxin back in 2015. This is what it should look like by 2019. It will be the largest aviation hub in the world, capable of handling 130 million passengers annually (for comparison, Vnukovo has a maximum capacity of 35 million passengers). 
The airport is located 46 kilometers south of the center of Beijing, while the old airport is located in the northeast of the city. The airport will be connected to the city by highways, high-speed trains and three metro lines. 
Interior 
Daxing Airport is a huge building with a central core and five “sleeves” diverging in different directions.
Each "sleeve" will have its own themed setting, dedicated to one of the traditional Chinese cultural phenomena: silk-screen printing, tea, porcelain, agriculture or Chinese gardens. 
The length of the “sleeves” will be no more than 600 meters. Developers present this fact as one of Daxing's biggest advantages over other major airports, where passengers have to walk long distances to get from one end of the building to the other. 
The new airport in Beijing is being built because the current Beijing International Airport has been operating at capacity for several years. It is in second place on the list of the busiest airports in the world. 
But already in 2019 they will begin to gradually unload it. At this time, the plan is to open the first terminal of Daxing Airport with a capacity of 45 million passengers per year. 
It is planned that by 2025 it will already be operating at full capacity. 
Contrary to the well-founded opinion of the majority that the busiest airport in the world in terms of passenger traffic is London Heathrow, we undertake to assert that according to statistics for last year, Heathrow was only in third place.
Who took the palm in this “lively” dispute? Our rating “Top 10 busiest airports in the world by annual passenger traffic” will tell you. The rating was compiled taking into account the indicators of 2012.
10th place. Dubai International Airport (DXB)
Passenger flights at Dubai International Airport are served in three terminals: Terminal 1 serves 125 airlines, Terminal 2 - scheduled, charter and special flights (for example, pilgrimages), mainly operated by small airlines from the Gulf countries, Terminal 3 is intended only for Emirates airlines. The VIP terminal is the largest business aviation terminal of its kind in the Middle East.
According to the latest data from Airports Council International, DXB ranks second in the world in terms of international passenger traffic. The airport serves more than 145 airlines flying to more than 260 countries on six continents. In terms of total passenger flow density for 2012, Dubai took 10th place in the “leadership table” with a total number of travelers transported - 57,684,550.
However, over the eight months of the new operating year, a growth trend has emerged. With the opening of Concourse A in January this year, the total capacity of the three terminals has increased from 60 million to 75 million people per year. Here are even more eloquent figures: in June 2013, 5,537,098 passengers “passed” through Dubai International Airport - a significant 17.5% increase compared to the figure for June last year - 4,714,746 people.
In 2011, Dubai Airport management unveiled a master plan for the development of the airport. It talks about the construction of Concourse D, which was originally intended to be the fourth terminal. With a capacity of 15 million people on the new concourse, DXB's total will reach 90 million passengers by 2018.
9th place. Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Tangerang, Indonesia (CGK)
Soekarno-Hatta is the main airport serving the Jakarta Special Capital Region on the island of Java, Indonesia. The airport is named after Indonesia's first president, Soekarno, and first vice-president, Mohammad Hatta.
In 2012, Soekarno-Hatta's passenger density reached 57,772,762 people, an increase of 12.1% compared to 2011. The airport in Jakarta is considered one of the fastest growing in terms of a huge jump from 37th place in the world ranking, occupied in 2008 with 32 million passengers, to 9th position with more than 57 million passengers.
The general development plan for the airport includes doubling the capacity of Terminal 1, increasing passenger traffic through Terminal 2 from 9 million to 19 million people per year, and another 21 million will be added to the 4 million passengers passing through Terminal 3 annually.
8th place. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, DFW
According to statistics as of April 2013, Dallas/Fort Worth ranks third in the ranking of the busiest airports in the world in terms of aircraft traffic. In terms of passenger traffic, at the end of 2012 the total number of "arrivals" and "departures" reached 58,591,842. It is the main hub of American Airlines and an airport city with its own zip code, police department, fire department and emergency medical service.
This year marked a new milestone for Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport as it reached 200 nonstop destinations. This achievement allows DFW to join a select group of airports including Frankfurt, Amsterdam Schiphol, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, Chicago and Munich. man reached
7th place. Paris - Charles de Gaulle Airport.Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, CDG
Charles de Gaulle Airport, named after the general and president of France, Charles de Gaulle, is considered one of the centers of world aviation, and, of course, is the largest airport in France. It is also the "epicenter" of Air France.
The passenger traffic density through the airport in 2012 was 61,556,202 people, the aircraft traffic density was 497,763 aircraft, which allowed the main French airport to firmly establish itself in seventh place in the ranking of the busiest airports in the world and in second place in terms of passenger traffic in Europe, second only to London Heathrow. Charles de Gaulle also takes an honorable tenth place in the world and first in the European ranking of airports with the highest aircraft density.
6th place. Los Angeles International Airport.LosAngelesInternationalAirport,LAX
A 3% increase in passenger traffic in 2012 compared to the previous year propelled Los Angeles International Airport into sixth place worldwide with 63,688,121 passengers. In addition, in 2011 it was recognized as the first airport in the world in terms of the number of “non-stop” passengers.
LAX has nine passenger terminals connected via shuttle buses. The terminal grid resembles a horseshoe in shape. To travel between most terminals, passengers must exit the building, take a bus, and then go through security again. However, between some terminals there is a more flexible system of movement without additional inspections.
5th place. O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois, USA. O"Hare International Airport, ORD
O'Hare Airport is the second largest hub, after George W. Bush International Airport, for United Airlines, which carries 45% of all O'Hare passengers, and the second largest hub for American Airlines, after Dallas/Fort Worth.
O'Hare is the second airport in the world in terms of the number of takeoffs and landings and the fifth in the world ranking in terms of annual passenger traffic with an indicator of 66,633,503 for 2012. By the way, this figure is 0.1% less than the 2011 level.
O'Hare International Airport has four passenger terminals with nine concourses and 182 gates.
4th place. Tokyo Haneda International Airport,HND
Haneda Airport handles almost all of Tokyo's domestic flights, while the second Narita International Airport handles the vast majority of international flights. Following the opening of the international terminal at Haneda Airport in 2010, along with the opening of a fourth runway, the number of international flights handled by Haneda has increased dramatically. In addition, the Japanese government plans to develop the airport's “international” role in the future.
In 2012, Haneda's total passenger traffic was 66,795,178. According to this indicator, Tokyo Airport was in second place in the ranking of the busiest airports in Asia and in fourth place globally.
The combined capacity of Haneda and Narita makes Tokyo the third busiest city airport system after London and New York.
3rd place. Heathrow International Airport, London. London Heathrow Airport,LHR
Heathrow is London's largest airport and the UK's busiest airport. In addition, as of 2012, Heathrow ranked third in the world in terms of total passenger traffic of 70,038,857 people, carrying the largest number of international passengers in the world. In addition, in terms of passenger density, it is the busiest airport in Europe and the third in the European ranking for traffic density after Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt Airport.
With its six airports, London's city airport system is considered the busiest in the world, handling 133,666,888 passengers each year. In terms of total takeoffs and landings, London is second only to New York.
2nd place. Capital International Airport, Beijing,P.E.K.
Capital is Beijing's main airport. In 2009, it received the proud title of Asia's busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic and number of takeoffs and landings. In 2012, Beijing ranked second in the world in passenger density (81,929,689 people), behind Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. In total, 557,167 take-offs and landings were registered in Beijing last year, which is the sixth place on a global scale.
Beijing International Airport is the main hub of Air China, the national carrier of the People's Republic of China, flying to 120 destinations.
Built in 2008, Terminal 3 is considered the second largest airport terminal after Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport.
1 place. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, ATL
Our winner, the world's busiest airport by total passenger traffic, is Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Since 1998, Atlanta Airport has been second to none. In 2012, Hartsfield-Jackson was the leader in two rankings at once: in passenger density and in aircraft traffic density. The exact number of passengers transported over the past year is 95,462,867 people, the number of arriving and departing aircraft is 950,119.
In 1999, a master plan for the development of the airport was announced, in which the projected figure for the estimated passenger traffic by 2015 was 121 million people.
Marina Kozlova especially for
