Top 3 World's Biggest Airports

Air travel is the most common means of transport for long-distance travel. Not only is it used for humans but also military payloads, merchandise, and mail among others. With the growing demand for air travel, many airports have expanded and improved their infrastructure to accommodate many travelers. 

Below are the top 3 world’s biggest airports.

King Fahd International Airport

This airport is located in Saudi Arabia and is named after the former king of Saudi Arabia, Fahd Ibn Abdulaziz. King Fahd International Airport is the largest airport in the world with a distance of 300 Square miles. To make it specific, King Fahd airport is located in Dammam in Saudi Arabia (around 19 miles northwest of Dammam).

The airport covers over 192,000 acres of land. King Fahd is also the third busiest airport in the world. It started as a United States airbase during the Gulf War. Design building of the King Fahd International Airport commenced in 1976 with construction starting in 1983. After its opening on 28th November 1999, all airlines transferred their operations from the Dhahran international Airport which was being used till then.

King Fahd International Airport started commercial operations in 1999 and expanded to provide connections to 43 destinations. It can handle around twelve million passengers. The airport has 37 airlines operating in and out of the airport and serves as a major hub for Saudia. King Fahd International Airport is a public airport owned by the government.

King Fahd airport is served by two runways which are 4 kilometers long and three terminals; the passenger terminal which serves mainstream passengers, the Aramco terminal which is mainly used by the Aramco employees to board Saudi Aramco aviation flights, and the Royal Terminal is reserved to be used by the Saudi royal family.

Interesting facts about King Fahd International Airport

• The King Fahd airport is a sign of memory. It was named after the former King of Saudi Arabia Fahd Ibn Abdulaziz.
• King Fahd airport has an exclusive royal terminal of 177,000 Square feet and has four bridges linking the terminal to an aircraft. This exclusive royal terminal can only be used by the Royal family, very important people, top government, and foreign officials. The terminal is decorated and furnished luxuriously and includes extensively landscaped grounds and exteriors. The Royal family may however prefer to use a similar special terminal in the King Abdulaziz airbase.
• King Fahd airport is believed to be the first among other airports to adopt duty-free stores. Other than the space allocated to duty-free stores, the airport also has a separate area for other shops specializing in selling gifts and all passenger-related goods. Some of the shops in this area are restaurants, banks, cafeterias and others which are located at the arrivals level.
• King Fahd airport has a beautiful mosque of around 497, 000 Square feet located at the car park roof. The mosque can hold up to 2,000 worshippers.
• King Fahd airport also contains a residential community holding which can accommodate around 3,000 people.
  

Denver International Airport

Denver International Airport is America's biggest airport and also the world’s second-biggest airport. The surface area of Denver International Airport is around 52.4 square miles. Calculating the distance from the city center, Denver Airport is located around 25 miles from the city center.

Passenger traffic in Denver Airport is around 60 million annually. Denver International Airport is the eighth busiest airport globally. Denver Airport currently offers nonstop service to 215 destinations amongst 23 different airlines throughout North America, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Denver was the fourth airport in the United States to exceed 200 destinations.

Denver International Airport is one of the largest operating bases for Southwest airlines. This airport is the biggest employer in Colorado with over 35,000 employees. The airport is located 25 miles from Downtown Denver. The Denver International Airport replaced Stapleton International Airport.

Denver International Airport has one terminal named the Jeppesen Terminal and three midfield concourses spaced far apart. This terminal was named after aviation safety pioneer Elrey Borge Jeppesen. The three midfield concourses feature 146 gates. You can access a concourse through the pedestrian bridge which is direct from the terminal building or can be accessed through the underground train system which serves the three concourses. Concourses B and C are accessible through the train.

Interesting facts about the second largest airport in the world

• Denver Airport shot into global fame with some conspiracy theories surrounding it despite it being the second biggest airport in the world. One of the conspiracy theories is that the New World Order controls the airport. Denver Airport features the longest runway in North America. The runway is usually in the shape of a Swastika which makes it peculiar. There is also another major theory that says the airport is constructed on a burial ground.
• Denver International Airport is a public airport owned by the city-county of Denver department of aviation. It started operating commercially in 1995. Denver International Airport has always been among the top busiest airports since 2000.
• Construction is still underway to expand the concourses. 12 gates are to be added to Concourse A,11 are to be added to B, and 16 gates are to be added to Concourse C.
• Denver International Airport occupies the largest commercial area in North America.

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

Dallas International Airport covers an area of around 27 square miles. This is the third biggest airport in the world. Compared to Manhattan Island, Dallas Airport is larger. Dallas is located in between the cities of Dallas and fort worth. Dallas International Airport operates flights up to 273 destinations across 44 countries. This airport is the fourth busiest Airport and has around 39 million passengers using its terminals annually.

Interesting facts about Dallas /Fort Worth International Airport

• Around 95% of the domestic United States airports are within four hours of flying time from Dallas Airport.
• Dallas has 184 gates featuring five terminals. The airport officials are still planning to add nine gates to terminals A to C.
• It is the first commercial airport to have a space shuttle land on it.

Conclusion

Air travel has become an essential part of the world economy. This means of transport provides quick and safe travel compared to waterways and roads. It is great for transporting human and non-human cargo to different places in the world. On average, these are the top 3 biggest airports in the world. The above airports have a larger physical size, a large number of flights, and a large number of passengers.

Read More:

Direct int’l flight from Sylhet airport soon

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Int’l Airport to be built near Dhaka