49 Fun Facts About Airport

Which airport has been the world's busiest by passenger traffic every year since 1998, except 2020?

It is named after two former Atlanta mayors, William Hartsfield and Maynard Jackson.

Which airport was the world's busiest by passengers on non-domestic routes in 2024?

Its IATA code is DXB.

Chicago O'Hare's code ORD comes from the airport's earlier name; what was it?

It was renamed in 1949 for Medal of Honor aviator Edward 'Butch' O'Hare.

Chicago's O'Hare airport is named after a World War II figure of what kind?

Butch O'Hare was the US Navy's first flying ace of the war.

Why is Los Angeles airport's code LAX rather than LA?

The site began as Mines Field, host of the 1928 National Air Races.

Orlando's code MCO comes from what?

The Strategic Air Command base closed in 1975.

Which Canadian rock band recorded an instrumental named after Toronto Pearson's code, YYZ?

A photo of Pearson's original Terminal 1 is on the Voyager Golden Record.

What was JFK Airport commonly called until December 24, 1963?

Officially it was New York International Airport, Anderson Field, from 1948.

Which architect designed JFK's winged TWA Flight Center, opened in 1962?

It is now a hotel.

Heathrow opened in 1946 under what earlier name?

It was renamed Heathrow in September 1966 to avoid confusion with Gatwick and Stansted.

Denver International owns how much land, the most of any commercial airport in North America?

It opened on February 28, 1995.

What material is Denver airport's famous peaked terminal roof made of?

Heavy snow tore a hole in it during a March 2003 blizzard, closing the airport for two days.

Denver airport's notorious 32-foot 'Blucifer' sculpture is what animal?

Luis Jiménez's Blue Mustang was one of the airport's earliest public art commissions, in 1993.

Singapore Changi's Rain Vortex holds the world record for the tallest what?

It cascades 40 metres down seven storeys inside Jewel Changi.

Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport, famed for its hair-raising approach, closed in which year?

Water on three sides and 2,000-foot mountains forced planes to drop in fast over Kowloon City.

Which main road crosses the runway at Gibraltar's airport?

It heads to the Spanish border and used to be closed for every aircraft movement.

Barra Airport in the Outer Hebrides is believed to be the only one where scheduled flights land on what?

Its bay is called Traigh Mhòr.

Lukla's Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Nepal has a runway with what gradient?

The runway is just 527 metres long, and a 2010 History Channel show rated it the world's most dangerous.

Princess Juliana Airport's famously low landings pass right over which stretch of sand?

It is on the Dutch side of St. Martin.

Bhutan's Paro Airport is ringed by peaks up to 5,500 metres; what is unusual about who may fly there?

It is considered one of the world's most challenging airports.

Japan's Kansai International Airport is built where?

The island is called Kankūjima.

Loganair's Westray to Papa Westray flight, the world's shortest scheduled service, covers what distance?

It is scheduled for a minute and a half and about equals Edinburgh Airport's runway length.

Qamdo Bamda Airport in Tibet once had the world's longest runway, at what length?

It sits at 4,334 metres and was formerly the world's highest airport.

College Park Airport in Maryland was founded in 1909 so that whom could teach army officers to fly?

The Signal Corps set it up for the government's first airplane.

Which airport near the British capital, opened in 1920, introduced the world's first air traffic control?

It also had the first airport terminal and the first airport hotel.

Tempelhof was the centre of which Cold War operation?

The airport ceased operating in 2008 and is now a park.

The world's first duty-free shop opened in 1947 at which airport?

Brendan O'Regan founded it, and it is still in operation.

Who is credited with inventing the jet bridge?

The generic term 'jetway' comes from a brand name.

How many letters are in an IATA airport code?

ICAO codes have four letters; IATA is headquartered in Montreal.

Mehran Karimi Nasseri lived in Terminal 1 of which airport from 1988 to 2006?

His story inspired Spielberg's The Terminal; he died in 2022.

Who directed the 2004 film The Terminal, starring Tom Hanks?

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Stanley Tucci co-star.

Beijing Daxing airport is nicknamed after which sea creature because of its terminal's shape?

Zaha Hadid Architects designed it.

Which hub is Europe's busiest and the world's largest privately-operated aviation facility?

Heathrow was Europe's busiest in 2025 by passengers, but Istanbul claims the title on other measures.

How many runways does Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport in 2025, have?

In the 1950s it had six runways arranged in a hexagram; only the two parallel east-west ones remain.

Chicago's Midway airport was once nicknamed what?

O'Hare was designed as its successor and began as a Douglas C-54 factory airfield.

The famous LAX Theme Building was a smaller version of what unbuilt plan?

It became the focal point of the central terminal area.

New Orleans airport's code MSY honours a daredevil aviator who died in a 1910 crash; what was his name?

The site was once the Moisant Stock Yards.

How many carriers and nonstop routes did Denver International serve in 2025?

It was the fourth US airport to top 200 destinations.

A model of which aircraft has stood at Heathrow's entrance since 2008, replacing a Concorde?

The Concorde model was a 40 percent scale G-CONC.

How many 'Best Airport' awards did Changi win in 2025 alone?

It has collected over 700 awards since opening.

Toronto Pearson is mostly located in which city, not Toronto itself?

The town of Malton, its original site, is now part of Mississauga.

An airport is formally defined as what with extended facilities?

Most airports exist mainly for commercial air transport.

Guinness lists which Saudi airport as the world's largest by area, at about 780 km²?

It served as a US airbase in the Gulf War before commercial flights began in 1999, and hosts one of the world's shortest international flights, 87 km to Bahrain.

Which airline's hub at Dallas Fort Worth is the world's second-largest single-airline hub?

Only Delta's Atlanta operation is bigger; DFW itself is the second-largest US airport by land area after Denver.

Which major European hub airport lies entirely below sea level?

Schiphol sits about 3 to 4 metres below sea level in the Haarlemmermeer polder and is Europe's busiest airport by aircraft movements.

The altiport serving which French ski resort has a 537-metre runway with an 18.6% gradient and no go-around?

Its steep strip has even served as a Tour de France stage finish, and the History Channel ranked it the world's seventh most extreme airport.

Which footballer's name was given to Madeira's airport in 2017, at a ceremony remembered for an odd bust?

Part of the runway sits on a platform supported by pillars, like a beam bridge, over the shore.

The first flight from Tokyo's Haneda airfield in August 1931 carried what unusual cargo?

The insects went to Dairen in the Kwantung Leased Territory; today Haneda is the busier of Tokyo's two airports.

Washington Dulles airport, opened in 1962, was designed with what unusual system to carry passengers to planes?

The raised lounges met each aircraft, but by 1985 the design no longer suited Dulles's role as a hub; some are still in use.