A airport on the border of Southeast Europe is the best connected in the world, with more than 300 direct flights to unique destinations. It was also quickly networked after only being discovered in 2018.
The airport EVERY Istanbul, which opened just six years ago in 2018, has been named the world’s best-connected airport, according to new data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Occupying a prime location between East and West in Turkey, Istanbul Airport operates an impressive number of 309 direct flights to destinations around the world. Most of them are with her Turkish Airlineswhich serves more countries than any other airline.
About 90 million passengers a year pass through this global hub, making it the seventh busiest airport in the world, and it has an annual capacity of 200 million.
This could prove beneficial as air traffic in the first half of 2024 surpassed 2019 levels for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
«Our strategic location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia allows us to act as a vital hub for international travel.”Selahattin Bilgen, the airport’s CEO, told CNN. “We have proven to be the most resilient airport, recovering at the fastest pace from the Covid-19 pandemic and reaching our pre-pandemic passenger numbers earlier than any other airport in the world.”
Three European airports are next on the list: Frankfurt at number 2, Charles de Gaulle in Paris at number 3 and Schiphol in Amsterdam at number 4.
OR Frankfurt it is a financial center and base for the German airline Lufthansa, one of the largest airlines in Europe. Schiphol is well located in the heart of Europe, giving it an advantage over airports such as London Heathrow, on an island at the edge of the mainland and with expansion plans hampered by its densely populated location.
The best connection in North America
Tied with Schiphol at number 4, with 270 direct destinations, Chicago O’Hare is the best-connected airport in North America.
Dubai International is number 6, serving 269 destinations directly. Dubai handled about 87 million passengers in 2023, almost a third more than in 2022, according to data from the Airports Council International.
Another US airport is at number 7: Dallas Fort Worth International. Everything is bigger in Texas, as they say, and Dallas Fort Worth is the second largest land-based airport in the United States, just behind Denver International in Colorado.
Shanghai Pudong International is ranked number 8 and is the best-connected airport in Asia, serving 243 destinations directly.
The world’s busiest airport by passenger numbers, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International, is in 9th place, serving 237 destinations directly.
The last place in the top 10 is occupied by Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport in Rome with 234 non-stop destinations.
In April this year, Rome Airport won the award for best airport security management in the world in Skytrax’s annual survey to rate and rank UK-based airlines and airports.
The best connected airports in the world right now
- Istanbul Airport. (309 unique direct destinations)
- Frankfurt Airport. (296)
- Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. (282)
- Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. (270 with Chicago O’Hare)
- Chicago O’Hare International Airport. (270 together with Amsterdam Schiphol)
- Dubai International Airport. (269)
- Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. (261)
- Shanghai Pudong International Airport. (243)
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. (237)
- Rome Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport. (234)
- Denver International Airport. (229)
- London Heathrow Airport. (221)
- Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport. (219)
- Adolfo Suarez Madrid–Barajas Airport, Madrid. (218 together with London Gatwick).
- London Gatwick Airport. (218 together with Adolfo Suarez Madrid–Barajas).
- Munich Franz Josef Strauss Airport. (217)
- El Prat Airport in Barcelona. (209)
- Beijing International Airport. (206)
- Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport. (202)
- Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport. (202)
