The 15 Largest Airports in the World by Size

Busy is different than big. When it comes to sheer landmass, these are the most sprawling air travel complexes on the planet.

Aerial view of airplane above Denver International Airport, with Rocky Mountains in tbackground — An airplane leaves the biggest airport in the United States. Recognize the view?

When people refer to “big” airports, they typically think of large hubs with huge numbers of passengers transiting through. But bigger doesn’t always mean busier. The largest airports in the world are those that occupy the highest total acreage of land. And yes, some of the biggest are also some of the world’s busiest—but not always.

So, what are the behemoths that make up the list of world’s largest airports? Because there’s no single, authoritative source for this data, here is our ranking based on the airports’ own published dimensions, local government data, and other sources, such as Guinness World Records.

What is the world’s largest airport?

Interior of King Fahd International Airport, with soaring ceilings and windows and a few people — Off the coast of the Persian Gulf in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, lies the world’s biggest airport: King Fahd International.

The world’s biggest airport is King Fahd International Airport, in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The gargantuan hub tops the list, a status bestowed by Guinness World Records, but its purported size is so mind-boggling that it begs additional research. Its 300-square-mile girth would be the equivalent of an entire country, and, yes, this airport is about the same size as neighboring Bahrain.

What is the largest airport in the United States?

Aerial view of Denver International Airport, with peaked white roof, blue curved building, and huge parking structure — At 53 square miles, Denver International Airport is the biggest airport in the United States and the third largest in the world.

Denver International Airport embraces wide-open spaces—it’s so big that it’s more than double the size of the next largest U.S. airport, Dallas/Fort Worth. The airport has three outdoor decks, postsecurity, with views of the Rocky Mountains and Colorado plains in the distance. There is also an 82,000-square-foot outdoor plaza that’s open to travelers and the general public, and in 2022, the airport completed a capacity expansion project that added 39 new gates (for a total of 148) and increased the terminal’s capacity by 30 percent.