10 Most Interesting Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Airports
Airports make up the backbone of our transportation infrastructure, so it’s not surprising that most of us are familiar with them. But how much do you really know about these hubs? From interesting facts to terrifying stories, these 10 most interesting things you probably didn’t know about airports will blow your mind!
Top 20 busiest international airports in the world
1. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) 2. Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) 3. O’Hare International Airport (ORD) 4. Dubai International Airport (DXB) 5. London Heathrow Airport (LHR) 6. Tokyo Haneda International Airport (HND) 7. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) 8. Suvarnabhumi Bangkok International Airport 9. Hong Kong International Airport 10.
The most expensive flight delays
flight delays can be incredibly frustrating. Nothing is worse than sitting on a plane for hours with no end in sight. Delays are often due to bad weather, but here’s some good news: Even when your flight is delayed for that reason, you may still be entitled to compensation. Flight delay compensation is only awarded if you’re departing from a country in Europe—and only if it’s an airline based there too. You can get €250 ($327) per person in such situations—meaning up to €600 ($766) per family of four if everyone travels together and is eligible.
Largest single-airport building projects
South Korea’s Incheon International Airport in Seoul took five years to complete and cost $14.8 billion. It boasts a three-mile moving walkway, an underground rail system and a hotel within its terminal—and that’s just a few of its superlatives. Construction on Istanbul’s third airport began in 2007 and it is expected to be completed by 2015; at $20 billion, it will be one of the largest construction projects ever. It will have five runways spread across 2,475 acres (1,035 hectares) and a terminal that can accommodate 90 million passengers per year—more than three times as many people as currently fly through New York City’s JFK Airport each year.
The most private airport tarmacs
Almost everyone has traveled through an airport, but most of us don’t know much about what happens outside of security. For example, have you ever wondered what happens to all those empty carts after your flight leaves? Many airports use a nearby industrial park for offsite parking for passenger loading bridges and cart return systems. They offer a secure place for airlines to store their vehicles overnight, or if there is no space on site. As you can imagine, outfitting these facilities with high-security fencing and lighting is expensive—but worth it considering how many people access them every day. In fact, some offsite lots are gated compounds that are difficult to get into (or even onto) without clearance from multiple authorities.
World’s tallest control tower
As of January 2014, it’s in Bermuda—but it will soon be eclipsed by a tower opening in Saudi Arabia. Dubai’s control tower is close behind. The world’s tallest control tower, at 646 feet (197 meters), is located at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Designed by Helmut Jahn, who also designed New York City’s new World Trade Center transportation hub and will design its new 1 World Trade Center building, Chicago O’Hare tower took four years to build and began service in 2013. Control towers aren’t always so high—many airports have them on top of terminals or buildings near runways.
Mega-Airport Projects on Hold
First proposed in 2013, China’s Lianyungang Airport would have been one of six mega-airport projects announced by Beijing. According to HNA Group, construction on Lianyungang Airport has been indefinitely suspended until further notice due to economic uncertainties and a decline in capital flows. Construction of Sanya Phoenix International Airport, which was supposed to cost around $3 billion and serve 22 million passengers a year when it opened in 2020, also appears to be on hold for now. Sanya is located in Hainan Province, an area well known for tourism that has been hurt recently by heavy rains that have affected local businesses.
World’s Busiest Commercial Runways
(Top Ten) 1. Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL): 94 million passengers per year 2. Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK): 88 million passengers per year 3. London Heathrow Airport (LHR): 82 million passengers per year 4. Dubai International Airport (DXB): 78 million passengers per year 5. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX): 76 million passengers per year 6. Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND): 75 million passengers per year 7. Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport(CDG): 74 million passengers per year 8.
Longest Airport Security Lines
In 2010, a record-breaking 1.8 million people made their way through Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. These travelers set a world record for long lines and waiting times, which slowed from an average of 20 minutes in 2005 to 28 minutes in 2007 and finally to 36 minutes by 2010, according to USA Today. The wait was so long that 1% of passengers missed their flights! Next time you’re stuck in a line longer than it should be (we know how frustrating that can be), count your blessings—you could be waiting for as much as three hours or more at some airports around the world.
Airlines with the Biggest Landing Slots
It’s often argued that airlines are more interested in how much they can sell passengers rather than how many passengers they can carry per flight. If that’s true, then you’d have to agree that landing slots must be one of a carrier’s most important assets. The process for obtaining them is notoriously expensive and complicated, but once you’ve got them you’ve got something that makes money year after year – which is why it was interesting to see from a recent Financial Times analysis exactly who owns so many of these valuable pieces of real estate. As it turns out, airlines like Delta, United and Lufthansa have been buying up as many slots as possible to control routes in and out of major cities.
Large Planes With Smaller Planes Inside
Some of us may be more familiar with US airports that have their own small airport inside like Chicago’s O’Hare or Charlotte Douglas International Airport. But some international airports are so large that they actually have an entire little airport inside called a terminal within a terminal, also known as satellite terminals. In Asia for example, Hong Kong International Airport has three of these satellite terminals, each handling hundreds of flights every day. In America, JFK and Newark International Airports both contain one big terminal with smaller satellites.