11.08.2005
Copenhagen Airport among large players

Guess which well-known US airport had as many international passengers as Copenhagen Airport last year? The right answer is John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

Although Copenhagen Airport is not one of the largest airports in the world, the airport is nevertheless a major player when it comes to the number of international passengers. This appears from the annual comparison of passenger numbers at almost 1,000 airports worldwide made by the Airports Council International (ACI).

The ACI 2004 Worldwide Airport Traffic Report shows that, with more than 17 million international passengers, Copenhagen Airport is the 18th largest airport in the world in terms of international passengers.

Copenhagen – a hub

Last year, Copenhagen Airport had more international passengers than airports such as Los Angeles International, USA, Toronto, Canada and Zurich, Switzerland, which all had around 16 million international passengers, whilst New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport had around 17 million international passengers like Copenhagen. The number of international passengers at Copenhagen Airport grew 8% year-on-year in 2004.

Copenhagen Airport is the only Scandinavian airport on the ACI report’s top 30 list of the world’s largest airports in terms of international passengers. The five largest international airports in the world are London/Heathrow (60 million international passengers), Paris/Charles de Gaulle (46 million), Frankfurt (43 million), Amsterdam (42 million) and Hong Kong (36 million).

Atlanta is the world’s largest airport

In terms of total number of passengers – international plus domestic – the picture is rather different. Here, three US airports are on the top 5 list, reflecting the large number of domestic passengers in the United States.

Atlanta tops the list as the world’s absolutely largest airport with 83 million passengers in 2004 followed by Chicago (76 million), London/Heathrow (67 million), Tokyo (62 million) and Los Angeles (61 million). New York/JFK ranked 15th with 38 million passengers, whilst Copenhagen Airport with its 19 million passengers ranked 58th.

The world’s largest airports (passengers in 2004):
1. Atlanta (83 million)
2. Chicago (76 million)
3. London/Heathrow (67 million)
4. Tokyo/Haneda (62 million)
5. Los Angeles (61 million)
6. Dallas/Ft. Worth (59 million)
7. Paris/Charles de Gaulle (51 million)
8. Frankfurt (51 million)
9. Amsterdam (43 million)
10. Denver (42 million)

The world’s largest international airports (international passengers in 2004):
1. London/Heathrow (60 million)
2. Paris/Charles de Gaulle (46 million)
3. Frankfurt (43 million)
4. Amsterdam (42 million)
5. Hong Kong (36 million)
6. Singapore (29 million)
7. London/Gatwick (27 million)
8. Tokyo/Narita (27 million)
9. Bangkok (26 million)
10. Seoul (24 million)