King Fahd International Airport (Dammam, Saudi Arabia)
King Fahd International Airport, just outside Dammam, is the world’s largest by land area. It earned a spot in the Guinness World Records in 2013. Covering nearly 780 square kilometers, roughly the same size as neighboring Bahrain, the airport is remarkable in size. Despite all that space, its traffic remains relatively low, handling around 10 million passengers each year. Built on what was once a large U.S. air base in the desert, the airport features a six-story terminal and is the first in Saudi Arabia to have duty-free shops. It also includes a mosque that can accommodate 2,000 worshippers at once, a residential area for staff, and greenhouses for landscaping plants. Despite its underused capacity, King Fahd International stands out because of its massive size and extensive facilities.
King Khalid International Airport (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)
King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh is the second largest in the world by land area. Covering about 225 square kilometers, it has served the Saudi capital since it opened in 1983. With an annual traffic of roughly 30 to 37 million passengers, it is one of the busiest airports in the Middle East. The complex includes five passenger terminals and a dedicated Royal Terminal for state visitors and members of the royal family. This exclusive facility features gardens, fountains, and a ceremonial hall that stretches 400 meters. Another notable feature of King Khalid Airport is its air traffic control tower; rising to approximately 81 meters, it ranks among the tallest of its kind worldwide.
Denver International Airport (Denver, USA)
Denver International Airport in Colorado is the largest airport in the United States by land area. The airport spans 135 square kilometers, which is equivalent to the size of a small urban area. By 2023, its annual passenger traffic had increased to 82 million, making it one of the busiest airports worldwide. The airport is known for its extensive flight network and well-developed infrastructure. It has six runways, including one that measures 4.88 kilometers (16,000 feet), the longest commercial runway in North America. Architecturally, the terminal’s white, teflon-coated, tent-like roof was designed to resemble the snow-capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains, creating a distinctive silhouette. The grounds also function as an open-air art space, featuring the notable red-eyed blue horse sculpture called “Bluecifer,” a striking landmark that often draws passengers’ attention. Its large size and capacity to handle many travelers have made Denver International Airport a major aviation hub in North America.
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (Atlanta, USA)
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport has long been the busiest airport in the world by passenger volume. Before the pandemic, its annual traffic exceeded 110 million travelers; although it briefly dropped to second place during COVID’s disruption, it regained the top position by 2021. In 2024, with approximately 108 million passengers, the airport once again ranked first worldwide as the busiest. This figure shows that Atlanta Airport handles over 295,000 passengers daily on average, highlighting its significant traffic for an airport.
Several factors explain this impressive volume. Geographically, Atlanta is situated in the U.S. Southeast within a two-hour flight of most of the country’s population, making it a natural hub for domestic flights. It also serves as the main hub for Delta Air Lines, whose extensive domestic network has transformed the airport into what many call a “super transfer hub.” With five parallel runways, it also ranks first worldwide for takeoffs and landings. Its terminal complex, consisting of two main terminals connected by seven concourses, has over 190 gates in total. Since 1998, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta Airport has consistently maintained its status as the world’s busiest airport, highlighting its central role in global aviation. If you want to learn about the history and story of John F. Kennedy Airport, another major U.S. airport, you can click on the link to read our article.
Dubai International Airport (Dubai, BAE)
Dubai International Airport (DXB), the crown jewel of the United Arab Emirates, has long ranked first in international passenger traffic, making it not only the Middle East’s but also one of the world’s top aviation hubs. In 2023, the airport handled 92.3 million travelers, placing it second worldwide. What solidifies Dubai’s role as a global crossroads is its geography: perfectly situated between Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas, serving as a natural transit hub for long-haul flights. With most of its traffic coming from international transfers, Dubai has maintained its status as the world’s busiest international airport for years.
Physically, the airport is characterized by its massive terminals. Terminal 3, which opened in 2008, was at the time the largest building on the planet and remains the largest airport terminal in the world. Covering 1.713 million square meters of floor space, Terminal 3 was designed to handle 43 million passengers annually. Overall, Dubai Airport has three passenger terminals and two large hangars, with free shuttle buses and a metro connection seamlessly linking the terminals.
İstanbul Airport (İstanbul, Türkiye)
Opened in 2019, İstanbul Airport quickly established itself on the global stage with its massive size and rapid passenger growth. Covering about 76 square kilometers, it is the largest airport in Europe by land area. Situated on the city’s northern edge near the Black Sea, the site was designed from the beginning as a forward-looking mega-hub. By 2022, it was serving roughly 80 million passengers, making it Europe’s second-busiest after London Heathrow and ranking among the top ten in the world. You can read our article on the history and development of Heathrow Airport.
Ahead of the opening, Turkish Airlines carried out one of the most significant relocation operations in civil aviation history. Known as “The Great Migration,” the move transferred over 10,000 pieces of equipment and more than 5,000 staff members into the new terminal in just 29 hours—a logistics feat remembered as seamless. You can read the details of this historic process here.
Currently, İstanbul Airport operates with a single main terminal building. Spanning more than 1.4 million square meters of enclosed space, it accommodates both domestic and international operations under one roof. The terminal features a spacious, modern design equipped with the latest technologies. Today, the airport has five active runways, some extending up to 4,100 meters, ensuring efficient operations even during peak hours. Due to its location at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa, İstanbul has quickly become a popular transfer hub for intercontinental travel.
What makes the airport especially notable is its ambitious plan for future development. Once the entire project is completed, the facility is expected to expand to eight runways with the capacity to handle between 150 and 200 million passengers annually. That would place it among the airports with the highest capacity worldwide. Construction of the additional phases, including new terminals and support facilities, is scheduled to continue through 2027.
Building on its presence in passenger services within the cargo transportation sector, İstanbul Airport maintains a strong position in the global logistics network with Turkish Airlines’ state-of-the-art cargo facility: SMARTIST. Equipped with cutting-edge automation, AI-driven process management, and eco-friendly infrastructure, the complex is designed to elevate İstanbul’s air freight capacity to levels that rival the world’s leaders once fully completed. It is therefore anticipated that the airport will further solidify its role as a strategic hub connecting continents in both passenger and cargo transportation.
Beijing Daxing International Airport (Beijing, China)
After Beijing Capital International Airport set records in 2008 with the world’s largest terminal, China’s capital made another leap in 2019 with the opening of Beijing Daxing International Airport. Known mainly for its striking design and massive size, Daxing covers 46.6 square kilometers, making it the country’s largest and one of the biggest airports in the world. By 2023, it was handling about 39.4 million passengers, a number impacted by the pandemic right after its debut; but it still demonstrates its huge capacity and future potential.
What truly distinguishes Daxing is its radial terminal layout. Designed by the late Zaha Hadid’s team, the plan enables passengers to reach even the farthest gate in under eight minutes on foot. The single-roof terminal spans 700,000 square meters, making it the largest single-building airport terminal in the world. Shaped like a five-pointed star, the structure alone covers an area equivalent to 97 football fields. In short, Beijing Daxing is both colossal in scale and innovative in design—a landmark project that has redefined 21st-century airport architecture.
While airports like King Fahd in Saudi Arabia make headlines for their vast land areas, hubs such as Atlanta and Dubai are recognized for their large passenger volumes. Newcomers like İstanbul and Daxing, meanwhile, aim high on both counts, positioning themselves as contenders for the largest and most influential airports of the future. What sets these airports apart isn’t just their size; they also feature modern terminals, advanced technological infrastructure, and a growing focus on passenger experience. These massive international hubs serve as the foundation of worldwide travel while they stimulate economic expansion throughout their respective cities.
