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World's biggest airports

Friday, Jul 02, 2010

Gulf News

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Larger than life airports

As Maktoum International Airport is officially inaugurated by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, we take a look at the world's current largest airports.

n Hartsfield-Jackson Airport:

Atlanta is a hub for the world's largest commercial airline (the newly merged Delta-NorthWest which flies to 368 destinations) so it's not exactly a surprise that it is the busiest airport in the world. This behemoth dealt with 88,032,086 passengers in 2009. But while it is the current king, Hartsfield-Jackson has also suffered in the downturn, with passenger traffic falling by 2.2 per cent last year.

n Heathrow Airport:

Often thought of as the biggest airport in the world, London's main airport processed 66,037,851 passengers last year, moving it up one place in the global pecking order to number two. It currently boasts five terminals and is the primary hub for British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and BMI. Plans for a sixth terminal and a third runway were cancelled by the new UK government in May.

n Capital Airport:

While airports around the world have seen numbers tumbling, Beijing's main airport was the only one in the top 10 to register any growth. In fact, in common with many airports in rapidly expanding cities in Asia and the Middle East, Capital Airport managed double-digit growth. Passenger traffic rose in 2009 by 16.8 per cent to 65,329,851 and the airport jumped up five places on the chart.

n O'Hare Airport:

For many years Chicago's airport was a fixture in the world's top two busiest airports. And despite some decline it is still hanging onto its position in the top five. As a hub for American Airlines and United Airlines it saw a bad year in 2009 with passenger numbers falling 6.1 per cent to 64,158,343. But the story was even worse the year before when passenger traffic fell 9 per cent.

n Tokyo International Airport:

Another airport from an established first world nation in decline, Japan's main airport saw a 7.2 per cent fall in numbers in 2009, but it still managed to handle 61,903,656 last year. The cause has not been helped by the ailing fortunes of Japan Airlines which filed for bankruptcy last January.

n Dubai International Airport:

The current largest airport in the UAE moved five places up the busiest list thanks to massive passenger growth partly driven by the opening of the new Emirates Terminal 3. A rise in passenger numbers of 9.2 per cent in 2009 meant that 40,901,752 people moved through the terminals. It means that Dubai is now the 15th busiest airport in the world.

n Abu Dhabi International Airport :

The capital of the UAE has seen huge growth in recent years. 2009 saw 9.7 million passengers walk through its doors, a rise of 7.3 per cent over the previous year. The opening of a new Terminal 3 and the expansion of national carrier Etihad is expected to fuel further growth.

n Al Maktoum International Airport :

The new facility will be the King Kong of airports when it is fully operational. A soft launch for cargo services and the world's tallest control tower is just the beginning. Eventually it will have five runways, the capacity to land four aircraft simultaneously and process 160 million passengers a year.

— Staff Report

Staff Report

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