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An international airport is an
airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...
with
customs Customs is an authority or Government agency, agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling International trade, the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out ...
and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer
runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...
s and have facilities to accommodate heavier aircraft such as the
Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...
and the Airbus A380 commonly used for international and intercontinental travel. International airports often host domestic flights, which helps feed both passengers and cargo into international ones (and vice versa). Buildings, operations, and management have become increasingly sophisticated since the mid-20th century, when international airports began to provide infrastructure for international civilian flights. Detailed technical standards have been developed to ensure safety and common coding systems implemented to provide global consistency. The physical structures that serve millions of individual passengers and flights are among the most complex and interconnected in the world. By the second decade of the 21st century, over 1,200 international airports existed with around 3.8 billion international passengers as of January 2023 along with 50 million metric tonnes of cargo passing through them annually.


History

In August 1919, Hounslow Heath Aerodrome, in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, was the first airport to operate scheduled international commercial services. It was closed and supplanted by Croydon Airport in March 1920. In the United States, Douglas Municipal Airport in
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
became the first international airport of the Americas in 1928. The precursors to international airports were airfields or
aerodrome An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes inc ...
s. In the early days of international flights, infrastructure was limited, "although if engine problems arose there were plenty of places where aircraft could land". Since four-engined land planes were unavailable for over-water operations to international destinations, flying boats became part of the solution. At the far end of the longest international route (which became the Kangaroo Route), on-water landing areas were found in places such as Surabaya and in the open sea off
Kupang Kupang (, ), formerly known as Koepang, is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. At the 2020 Indonesian census, 2020 Census, it had a population of 442,758;Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. the official estimate as o ...
. In
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, Rose Bay, New South Wales, was chosen as the flying-boat landing area. International airports sometimes serve military as well as commercial purposes and their viability is also affected by technological developments. Canton Island Airport, for example, in the
Phoenix Islands The Phoenix Islands, or Rawaki, are a group of eight atolls and two submerged coral reefs that lie east of the Gilbert Islands and west of the Line Islands in the central Pacific Ocean, north of Samoa. They are part of the Kiribati, Republic ...
(
Kiribati Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is over 119,000 as of the 2020 census, and more than half live on Tarawa. The st ...
), after serving as a military airport during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, was used as a refuelling stop by commercial aircraft such as Qantas which stationed ground crew there in the late 1950s. The advent in the early 1960s of jet aircraft such as the
Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on Decembe ...
with the range to fly non-stop between
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
or
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
and
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
, meant that a mid-Pacific stop was no longer needed and the airport was closed to regular commercial use. Other international airports, such as Kai Tak Airport in
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
, have been decommissioned and replaced when they reached capacity or technological advances rendered them inadequate.


Design and construction

The construction and operation of an international airport depends on a complicated set of decisions that are affected by technology, politics, economics and geography as well as both local and international law. Designing an airport even for domestic traffic or as "non-hub" has, from the beginning, required extensive co-ordination between users and interested parties – architects, engineers, managers and staff all need to be involved. Airports may also be regarded as emblematic of national pride and so the design may be architecturally ambitious. An example was the planned New Mexico City international airport, intended to replace an airport that has reached capacity. Airports can be towered or non-towered, depending on air traffic density and available funds. Because of high capacity and busy airspace, many international airports have air traffic control located on site. Some international airports require construction of additional
infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...
outside of the airport, such as at the Hong Kong International Airport, which included the construction of a high-speed railway and automobile expressway to connect the airport to the urban areas of Hong Kong. Construction of the expressway included the construction of two bridges (the Tsing Ma suspension bridge and Kap Shui Mun cable bridge) and the Ma Wan viaduct on Ma Wan island to connect the bridges. Each bridge carries rail and automobile traffic.


Operations and management

International airports have commercial relationships with and provide services to airlines and passengers from around the world. Many also serve as hubs, or places where non-direct flights may land and passengers may switch planes, while others serve primarily direct point-to-point flights. This affects airport design factors, including the number and placement of terminals as well as the flow of passengers and baggage between different areas of the airport. An airport specializing in point-to-point transit can have international and domestic terminals, each in their separate building equipped with separate baggage handling facilities. In a hub airport, however, spaces and services are shared. Airport management have to take into account a wide range of factors, among which are the performance of airlines, the technical requirements of aircraft, airport-airline relationships, services for travelling customers, security and environmental impacts.


Standards

Technical standards for safety and operating procedures at international airports are set by international agreements. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), formed in 1945, is the association of the airline companies. The
International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...
(ICAO) is a body of the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
succeeding earlier international committees going back to 1903. These two organizations served to create regulations over airports which the airports themselves had no authority to debate. This eventually sparked an entire subject of air travel politics. In January 1948, 19 representatives from various US commercial airports met for the first time in New York City to seek resolution to common problems they each faced, which initiated the formation of the Airport Operators Council, which later became Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA). This group included representatives from
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
,
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
,
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
,
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
,
Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
,
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
, Jacksonville, Kansas City,
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, Memphis,
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, New York,
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, St. Louis,
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
and Washington.


Flight logistics

International airports have extensive operations in managing flight
logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...
, such as
air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...
. The latter service is provided by ground-based controllers who coordinate and direct aircraft on the ground and through controlled airspace. Air traffic control also provides advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airspace.


Customs and immigration

Airports with international flights have customs and
immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...
facilities, which allow right of entry. These change over time but are generally designated by law. However, as some countries have agreements that allow connecting flights without customs and immigrations, such facilities do not define an international airport.


Security and safety

The current trend of enhancing security at the cost of passenger and baggage handling efficiency at international airports is expected to continue in the future. This places financial burden on airports, risks the flow of servicing processes, and has implications for the privacy of passengers. International flights often require a higher level of physical security than domestic airports do, although in recent years, many countries have adopted the same level of security for both. Most international airports feature a "sterile lounge", an area after security checkpoints within which passengers are free to move without further security checks. This area can have services such as duty-free shops that sell goods that have been selected and screened with safety in mind, so that purchasing and bringing them on board flights poses no security risks. In addition to employees, only processed passengers with a valid ticket are allowed inside the sterile lounge. Admittance into the sterile area is done in centralized security checkpoints in contrast to e.g. individual checkpoints at each
gate A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word is derived from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*gatan'', meaning an opening or passageway. Synonyms include yett (which comes from the same root w ...
. This allows for more efficient processing of passengers with fewer staff, as well as makes it possible to detect both delays and security threats well ahead of boarding. To ensure the viability of airport operations, new and innovative security systems are being developed. For instance, the old security checkpoints can be replaced by a "total security area" encompassing an entire airport, coupled with automatic surveillance of passengers from the moment they enter the airport until they embark on a plane. Passengers connecting to domestic flights from an international flight generally must take their checked luggage through customs and re-check their luggage at the domestic airline counter, requiring extra time in the process. In some cases in
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, luggage can be transferred to the final destination even if it is a domestic connection. In some cases, travelers and the aircraft can clear customs and immigration at the departure airport. An example of this would be that some airports in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
and
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, along with several other countries, have United States border preclearance facilities. This allows flights from those airports to fly into US airports that do not have customs and immigration facilities. Luggage from such flights can also be transferred to a final destination in the U.S. through the airport of entry. A crucial safety aspect of international airports is medical facilities and practices. In particular, controlling transmissible disease, such as SARS, is deemed important at international airports. While these standards are regulated by
ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...
Standards And Recommended Practices (SARPs) and WHO's International Health Regulations (IHR), local authorities have considerable say in how they are implemented.


Transportation

Among the most important airport services are further transportation connections, including rail networks, taxi and shuttle services at curbside pick-up areas, and public buses. Large areas for automobile parking, often in co-located multi-storey car parks, are also typical to find at airports. Some airports provide shuttle services to parking garages for passengers and airport employees. Due to the very large scale of international airports, some have constructed shuttle services to transport passengers between terminals. Such systems operate for example, in Singapore Changi Airport and
Zurich Airport Zurich Airport is the largest international airport of Switzerland and the airline hub, principal hub of Swiss International Air Lines. It serves Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland, and, with its surface transport links, much of the rest o ...
. At some U.S. international airports, such as
O'Hare International Airport Chicago O'Hare International Airport is the primary international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, United States, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Chicago Loop, Loop business district. The airport is ope ...
in Chicago, some seating and waiting areas are located away from the terminal building, with passengers being shuttled to terminals. These areas may be referred to as ground transportation centers or intermodal centers. Amenities at ground transportation centers typically include restrooms and seating, and may also provide ticket counters, food and beverage sales and retail goods such as magazines. Some ground transportation centers have heating and air conditioning and covered boarding areas (to protect passengers from the elements). File:Madrid 5.JPG, An internal motorized moving footway to transport passengers within Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, Spain File:CairoIntlAirportTerminal3.jpg, Curbside passenger pick up area at Terminal 3 Cairo International Airport, Egypt File:Cdgval val208 gareTGV 3.jpg, Rail service at Terminal 2 of Charles de Gaulle Airport in France


Services and amenities

Standard amenities include public restrooms, passenger waiting areas and retail stores for dining and shopping, including duty-free shops. Dining establishments may be consolidated in food courts. Some international airports may offer retail sales of
luxury goods In economics, a luxury good (or upmarket good) is a good (economics), good for which demand (economics), demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures on the good become a more significant proportion of ove ...
at duty-free stores.
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...
service and access, offices for bureau de change (
currency A currency is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a ''system of money'' in common use within a specific envi ...
exchange) and
tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
advice are common, although the availability of service varies across airports. Some international airports provide secure areas for stranded passengers to rest and sleep. The more usual service is hotels that are available on the premises. File:Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion Airport, Departure Hall.jpg, Duty-free shops at Ben Gurion International Airport in
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
, Israel (2012) File:Cots for stranded passengers - O'Hare International Airport.jpg, For passengers stranded overnight, secure area at O'Hare International Airport with dimmed lights, cots, pillows, blankets, and toiletries (2008) File:Hong Kong International Airport, Terminal 1, Food Court in the Restricted Area (Hong Kong).jpg, The food court in the restricted area of Terminal 1 at Hong Kong International Airport (2013)


Customer satisfaction awards

The World Airport Awards are voted by consumers in an independent global customer satisfaction survey. Singapore Changi Airport was the first-place winner in 2020. Other winners include Incheon International Airport (South Korea) and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (The Netherlands).


Airport names

Toponymy Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for a proper na ...
is one of the most common sources for the naming of airports. A number of areas close to them have lent their names, including villages, estates, city districts, historical areas and regions, islands and even a waterfall. Sometimes the toponym is combined with or renamed to incorporate another name from another source such as from one of the following: * Athletes such as George Best Belfast City Airport in Belfast, Northern Ireland. * Aviators such as pilots (civil and military) and others who played a role in the development of aviation- like Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Peru, named after Peruvian-French pilot Jorge Chavez, Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, named after Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith, or Sabiha Gökçen International Airport named after Turkish Female Pilot Sabiha Gökçen * Cultural leaders (poets, artists, writers, musicians) - like the John Lennon Airport in the English city of
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
, where
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
and
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
came from,
Rafael Hernandez Airport Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California Fiction * Rafael (TV series), ''Rafael'' (TV series), a Mexican telenovela * Rafaël (film), ''Rafaël'' (film), a 2018 Dutch film People * ...
in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, named for Puerto Rican singer and actor Rafael Hernandez, and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in
New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
, named for jazz artist
Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
. * Ethnic groups, such as Minangkabau International Airport in Padang, Indonesia, named after the local Minangkabau people. * Ideals in combination with toponyms, such as
Newark Liberty International Airport Newark Liberty International Airport is a major international airport serving the New York metropolitan area. The airport straddles the boundary between the cities of Newark, New Jersey, Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and E ...
. * Mythology and religion, such as heroes of epics and myths, church hierarchs and saints and similar names. A notable example of this is El Dorado International Airport. * Politicians and statesmen such as the O. R. Tambo International Airport in
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
which was named after O.R. Tambo who was a South African anti-
apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English:  , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
and Ninoy Aquino International Airport in
Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
,
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
to honour the former
Senator of the Philippines The Senate of the Philippines () is the upper house of Congress of the Philippines, Congress, the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, with the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House of Representatives as the lower house. The ...
, Benigno Aquino Jr. who was assassinated at the exact airport in 1983. Some airports have been named after dictators during their dictatorship; such is the case of the Robert Mugabe International Airport in Harare, Zimbabwe, named after Robert Mugabe, and, in the past Saddam International Airport in Baghdad, Iraq, so named after
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
. Some airports were formerly International, for example Atatürk International Airport, named from founding father of the Republic of Türkiye's
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...
. More notable examples are two of the three New York City airports: LaGuardia Airport (named after Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia) and John F. Kennedy International Airport (named after the 35th President of the United States). In addition, the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, was named after two former mayors: William B. Hartsfield and Maynard Jackson. * Public figures (advocates, engineers, doctors, teachers, journalists or sportspeople), such as John Wayne Airport, named after an actor. *Royalty (kings, queens) such as King Shaka International Airport in
Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
which was named after King Shaka who was one of the most influential
monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...
s of the Zulu Kingdom. * Scientists such as Galileo Galilei Airport in Pisa which was named after
Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...
. A study found that 44 percent of the world's international airports are named by toponyms: named for politicians (thirty percent), aviators (seven percent), mythology and religion (three percent), public figures (two percent), people of science (two percent) and other (one percent). Airports also use an
IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...
-3 letter code to abbreviate the names of all the international airports. Some airports are nicknamed after these codes, such as JFK, BWI, DFW, LAX, YYZ, FCO, and CDG. An "international airport" can be named as such by simply containing customs and border control facilities to enable international flights, regardless of whether international flights currently operate to or from the airport. For example, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility has been in place at Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport since July 1, 2012, but no scheduled international flights have been inaugurated to or from Bozeman since.


Notable airports


By historical event

* 1919 (August) Hounslow Heath Aerodrome begins operating scheduled international commercial services from England to France. * 1933 Douglas International Airport in
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
is honored by
Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...
as "the first international airport of the Americas", having reached this capacity in 1928.


By passenger numbers

* , Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport had the greatest number of travelers of all international airports with 107 million passengers, more than Beijing Capital International with 100 million passengers. * Los Angeles International Airport is considered to have the greatest number of passengers who start or end their travel there as opposed to continuing on to a connecting flight. Overall, LAX is considered to be the 7th busiest airport in the world. * Dubai International Airport is the busiest airport in the world by international passenger traffic, with 83,105,798 international passengers. Dubai is the third busiest airport worldwide.


Other

* Svalbard Airport in
Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...
,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
is the northernmost airport to which tourists can book tickets. It is primarily used for transporting miners to and from a cluster of islands with a heavy mining industry. * King Fahd International Airport in Dammam,
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
is the largest airport in the world, encompassing over . * The world's longest active scheduled passenger flight by great-circle distance operates between Changi Airport (in
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
) and John F. Kennedy International Airport (in New York City, United States); the great-circle distance between the two airports is .


See also

* List of busiest airports by aircraft movements * List of busiest airports by cargo traffic * List of busiest airports by passenger traffic * List of the busiest airports * List of the busiest airports in Europe * List of the busiest airports in the Nordic countries * List of international airports by country


References


External links


Airport World
– published by Airports Council International
World Airport in the map
- provided by chaoo13 {{Authority control Airports by type