The Burrow
Oct 25, 2024
We’ve all heard the advice; get to the airport well before your flight. Besides, travelling can be stressful enough without the thought of missing our flights and rushing to get there extra early. But sometimes, unfortunately, even an hour or two just isn’t long enough.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian airports are getting increasingly busy, with a 10.4% increase in traffic in July 2024 over the year prior, at 1,650,530 passengers departing from Australia.1
As experts in helping Australians compare travel insurance, we were interested to see which airports across the globe are the busiest, as well as which are the most well liked.
To do this, we looked at 60 of the most popular airports worldwide and indexed them against a variety of different factors, including the number of daily flights, the number of passengers annually, and Google Review ratings. These factors are then indexed against each other, and each airport received a score between zero and 10 for both how busy they are and their overall rating, with 10 being the best.
Here’s what we found.
Landing at the top spot on our list is the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport with an index score of 9.55. Servicing the northern areas of Texas, USA, the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is the largest airport in the state, as well as the second largest in the country.2
Though not coming in at first on any of our individual metrics, the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport flew in at top three for both number of passengers in 2023, at 81,755,538, as well as flights per day (945).
When it comes to number of destinations offered by the airport, the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport placed sixth, with an offering of 259 travel destinations.
These consistently high results helped to boost this airport all the way to the top.
Flying in at second place is the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport with an index score of 9.43. This airport came in with the highest number of passengers in 2023 with 104,653,451, easily clearing the airport with the second highest, Dubai International Airport, with 17million+ more.
The Hartfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport came in at fourth for number of flights per day at 861. The airport struggled to compete with other big players when comparing destination, though, placing eighth in our list with 240 destinations offered.
Third on our list is the Chicago O’Hare International Airport with an index score of 9.21. Currently holding the title for most runways in the world, the Chicago O’Hare International Airport excelled across each of our categories.3
This airport ensures its runways are put to good use, coming in at the top of our list for flights per day with 991. This, combined with top 10 placements on our other metrics helped the Chicago O’Hare International Airport score a high spot in our index.
Hitting the runway in fourth as the most recently built and only non-North American airport in our top five is Türkiye’s Istanbul International Airport with an index score of 9.04. This airport, which officially opened in 2018, topped our list for most destinations available with 307.4
Despite such a high destination count, the Istanbul International Airport struggled with our other metrics in comparison to its competitors, placing seventh for number of passengers in 2023 with 76,027,321 and 12th for daily flights, with 591.
Regardless, considering this airport has only been open six years a placement of fourth busiest is impressive.
Finally, announcing its spot as fifth in our list is the Denver International Airport with an index score of 8.87. Coming in as the largest airport in the USA, more than double the size of the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, and the second largest in the world, the airport scored well above average across the board.5
The Denver International Airport utilises its’ sprawling size to host the sixth largest number of passengers in 2023 at 77,837,917, as well as boasting the third most daily flights, at 880.
Compared to other airports in our top five, the Denver International Airport struggled with destination variety, placing only 13th in our list.
| Airport | Country | Number of Passengers (2023) | Flights per Day | Destinations | Index Score |
| Dallas Fort Worth International Airport | United States | 81,755,538 | 945 | 259 | 9.55 |
| Hartsfield – Jackson Atlanta International Airport | United States | 104,653,451 | 861 | 240 | 9.43 |
| Chicago O’Hare International Airport | United States | 73,894,226 | 991 | 251 | 9.21 |
| Istanbul International Airport | Türkiye | 76,027,321 | 591 | 307 | 9.04 |
| Denver International Airport | United States | 77,837,917 | 880 | 216 | 8.87 |
| Dubai International Airport | United Arab Emirates | 86,994,365 | 546 | 264 | 8.81 |
| Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport | France | 67,421,316 | 558 | 276 | 8.47 |
| Amsterdam Airport Schiphol | Netherlands | 61,889,586 | 602 | 261 | 8.47 |
| Heathrow Airport | United Kingdom | 79,183,364 | 569 | 221 | 8.47 |
| Shanghai Pudong International Airport | China | 54,476,397 | 691 | 232 | 8.08 |
Taking our top spot for highest rated airport is the Hong Kong International Airport with an index score of 9.44. Landing at the top of our index in access, services, cleanliness and Flight Report reviews, the Hong Kong International Airport promises an enjoyable traveller experience.
Additionally, the Hong Kong International Airport carries a prestigious Skytrax World Airport Star Rating of five out of five, reinforcing the fact that this airport is rated highly by both travellers and global benchmarks.
Coming in as our second highest rated airport is the Singapore Changi Airport, with an index score of 9.27. Another holder of a Skytrax World Airport Star Rating of five, the Singapore Changi Airport consistently landed within the top five for six of our seven factors, leading to its’ high total placement.
The airport boasts the highest Google Review Rating of any airport in our study, with a score of 4.7 stars out of five.
Our third highest rated airport is the Tokyo International (Haneda) Airport, with an index score of 9.00. Similar to many in this list, this airport is a holder of the Skytrax World Airport Star Rating of five.
This airport rated highly on its’ facilities, placing second in its cleanliness as well as with the Flight Report Total Score. It struggled in comparison to others on our list in Google Review Ratings, returning with an index score for this metric of 6.77, with 4.3 stars.
Landing in fourth place on our list is the Republic of Korea’s Incheon International Airport, with an index score of 8.79. The Incheon International Airport flew in with high scores across the board, with all but one of its’ index scores remaining above 8.00
The airport joins the others on this list with a five-star Skytrax World Airport Star Rating.
Finally, rounding out our list of highest rated airports is Qatar’s Hamad International Airport, with an index score of 8.08. Winning Skytrax’s World’s Best Airport award for the third time in 2024, it’s no surprise this airport was so highly rated by travellers as well.6
Sharing the second highest Google Review Rating with Incheon International Airport, the Hamad International Airport rated highly across the board for most user review metrics, struggling only with access.
| Airport | Country | Google Review Rating | Efficiency | Access | Services | Cleanliness | Flight Report Total Score | Skytrax Rating | Index Total |
| Hong Kong International Airport | Hong Kong | 4.4 | 8.7 | 8.8 | 8.6 | 9.0 | 8.8 | 5 | 9.44 |
| Singapore Changi Airport | Singapore | 4.7 | 8.6 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.6 | 8.4 | 5 | 9.27 |
| Tokyo International (Haneda) Airport | Japan | 4.3 | 8.6 | 8.3 | 8.0 | 8.9 | 8.5 | 5 | 9.00 |
| Incheon International Airport | Republic of Korea | 4.6 | 8.2 | 7.9 | 8.1 | 8.8 | 8.3 | 5 | 8.79 |
| Hamad International Airport | Qatar | 4.6 | 8.2 | 7.7 | 7.9 | 8.4 | 8.1 | 5 | 8.08 |
| Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport | China | 4.2 | 8.8 | 8.2 | 7.4 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 5 | 7.91 |
| Munich Airport | Germany | 4.0 | 8.4 | 7.8 | 8.2 | 8.7 | 8.3 | 5 | 7.79 |
| Seattle-Tacoma International Airport | United States | 4.0 | 8.2 | 8.6 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 4 | 7.60 |
| Dubai International Airport | United Arab Emirates | 4.6 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 7.9 | 8.3 | 8.1 | 3 | 7.24 |
| Istanbul International Airport | Türkiye | 4.4 | 7.9 | 7.3 | 7.8 | 8.4 | 7.9 | 5 | 6.68 |
Compare the Market’s Executive General Manager of General Insurance, Adrian Taylor, notes the importance of understanding what your travel insurance covers, regardless of where you’re travelling and which airports you might pass through.
“Travel insurance helps to provide travellers with extra peace of mind during their holidays,” Mr Taylor said.
“For example, cancellation cover can help you recoup your losses if unexpected issues arise, such as natural disasters or medical issues that were not pre-existing.
“Likewise, travel delay cover can provide compensation for additional expenses you incur as a result of a delayed flight or other insured mode of transport.
“An important thing to note is that despite how busy airports can get, cancellation cover typically does not cover you for flights missed due to long queues. As such, planning ahead and getting to your airport well ahead of time is important to ensure your trip goes as smoothly as possible.
“Regardless, we recommend you buy travel insurance when you book your trip or pay any deposit and when you do, it’s important to compare your travel insurance options to ensure you’re getting the cover you need.”
Always read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Target Market Determination (TMD) to check for the inclusions, limits and restrictions before purchasing.
Across our study of 60 airports, data was collected across 10 categories and each was indexed with a score between 0 to 10, with the latter representing a better score. These were then averaged to create an equally weighted overall index score out of 10 for each of the two rankings (rounded to the nearest two decimal places).