There is a wide range of ways to measure an airport’s size. One can look at the number of flight movements, the land size of an airport, the number of destinations, or the total number of passengers passing through an airport in a given year. The latter is what we’ll be doing in this list of the largest airports in the United States.

While four of the ten busiest airports in the world are US airports, no US airport makes it into the top ten busiest international airports list, according to data from OAG, highlighting the importance of the domestic market to US airports. Furthermore, other airports such as Dubai International Airport are growing rapidly and catching up with US airports in terms of passenger volumes. So let’s have a look at which US airports are actually the biggest.

6

John F. Kennedy International Airport

62,629,455 passengers

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New York JFK Airport is the busiest of the three major airports serving the New York City metropolitan area. The other two airports serving the city are Newark Liberty International Airport and New York La Guardia. In 2025, the airport had over 62.6 million passengers pass through its five terminals. These passengers all flew on one of 464,281 flights departing or landing at one of the airport’s four runways.

The airport is an important hub for both American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, as well as a focus city and home base for JetBlue. United Airlines does not operate any flights to or from New York JFK; instead, opting for Newark as its main hub serving New York. However, this is soon about to change as the airline is preparing for its return to the oneworld and SkyTeam dominated airport as early as 2027. With almost 1.5 million passengers in 2025, Los Angeles (LAX) is the most important domestic destination from the airport, followed by San Francisco (SFO) with over 900,000 passengers.

The airport also welcomes a vast number of international carriers serving destinations on all six inhabited continents, and is a major international gateway to the US. The biggest international airline is British Airways, accounting for a 2.1% market share, and is an important player in the world’s most profitable long-haul market between JFK and London Heathrow Airport (LHR). With almost 3.2 million passengers in 2024, the route to London is the airport’s busiest international route. Other important international routes from the airport include Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and Rome Fiumicino (FCO).

5

Los Angeles International Airport

73,709,594 passengers

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Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. Other airports serving the region include, among others, Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR), Ontario International Airport (ONT), and John Wayne Airport-Orange County Airport (SNA). The airport welcomed a total of 73.7 million passengers across 580,996 flights in 2025, representing an almost 4% decrease in total passengers compared to the year prior.

Unique about LAX is that it is somewhat of a “hybrid hub,” since despite its large passenger volume, only 12% of passengers actually connect via the airport, primarily on flights to Asia and Hawaii, whereas 88% of passengers are origin and destination (O&D) passengers. Furthermore, the airport is a hub for all three of the US’ major airlines (American, Delta, and United). In addition, Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines also have sizable operations at the airport. The largest international carriers are Air Canada and the Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris. Some of the most important international markets for LAX include London Heathrow (LHR), Seoul (ICN), Guadalajara (GDL), Taipei (TPE), and Tokyo Haneda (HND), with these routes all exceeding one million passengers in 2024.

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4

Denver International Airport

82,427,962 passengers

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Denver International Airport is the main international gateway to Denver. The airport is one of the largest airports in the United States by land size, with an impressive 137.8 km², and features six runways, with runway 16R/34L being the longest civil runway in North America at a length of 3.03 miles (4.88 km). Furthermore, the airport is one of the highest major airports in the country, as it is located at an altitude of 5,430′ (1,655 meters). In 2025, over 700,000 flights touched down or departed from one of Denver’s runways, transporting more than 82 million passengers. This massive passenger volume makes the airport the fourth-busiest in the United States and tenth worldwide.

Denver Airport is one of the largest and most important hubs for United Airlines, and the airline has a 49.9% market share at the airport. Furthermore, it serves as the largest operating base for both Southwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines, which use the airport as their home base. These airlines have market shares of 29.3% and 9.4%, respectively. For comparison, the fourth and fifth-biggest airlines at the airport, Delta and American, only hold 4.1% and 3.4% market share.

In 2018, the airport was the fourth airport in the United States to exceed 200 nonstop destinations, and in September 2025, Denver became the largest domestic hub in the United States with 197 domestic destinations. The most important domestic routes include Phoenix (PHX), Chicago (ORD), and Las Vegas (LAS). In total, the airport serves over 230 destinations, with the most important international destinations being Cancun (CUN), Vancouver (YVR), and London (LHR), as well as the two hubs of United’s Star Alliance partner Lufthansa, Frankfurt (FRA) and Munich (MUC). As part of the airport’s strategic vision 100, the airport wants to have crossed the 100 million passenger threshold by 2045.

“DEN belongs to all of Colorado. As we increase our passenger numbers and global connections, this team will be working to create more economic, business, education and cultural opportunities. The opportunities are endless, and together we can create a stronger, more diverse community where everyone can thrive.”

– Phil Washington, DEN CEO –

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3

Chicago O’Hare International Airport

84,851,825 passengers

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Chicago O’Hare International Airport is the primary international gateway to Chicago and its surrounding metropolitan area, the third largest in the United States. O’Hare opened in 1944, when it replaced Chicago Midway (MDW) as the city’s primary airport. Last year, around 85 million passengers used the airport, with 857,392 flights using one of the airport’s eight runways. Besides being the third-busiest airport in the United States, the airport is also the sixth busiest in the world.

The airport is an important hub for both United Airlines and American Airlines, with a 46.30% and 29.9% market share, respectively. The third, fourth, and fifth-largest operators at O’Hare are Spirit, Delta, and Southwest. However, these are far behind United and American, as their combined market share does not exceed 10%. O’Hare serves 297 destinations across the world, and is the 7th most connected airport in the world in 2025, according to OAG’s Megahub index. The most important domestic destinations are New York LaGuardia (LGA), Los Angeles (LAX), and Denver (DEN).

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2

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

85,660,127 passengers

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Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is one of the largest airports in the world by all measures. The airport is the main airport serving Dallas and Fort Worth in Texas, serving over 85 million passengers in 2025, making it the second-largest airport in the US by passenger volume and fourth largest in the world. In addition, the airport has a massive land size of 69.7 km², making it one of the largest in the world, and the second largest in the US after Denver. Dallas-Fort Worth is also the world’s largest carbon-neutral airport and the first in North America to reach this status.

The airport is the largest hub for American Airlines, which also has its headquarters near the airport. American Airlines and its regional subsidiaries represent over 75% of the airport market share. American’s hub in Dallas is the second-largest airline hub in the world, behind Delta Air Lines’ hub in Atlanta. Besides American Airlines, the airport is also an operating base for low-cost airlines Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines. The busiest domestic route is Los Angeles (LAX), while Mexico is the airport’s largest overall international market.

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1

Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport

106,302,208 passengers

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Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is the main airport serving Atlanta and the world’s largest airport, serving over 106.3 million passengers annually. This is a slight decrease from 2024 when the airport served over 108 million passengers. The title of busiest airport in the world has been held by the airport since 1998, with the only exception being 2020 due to the pandemic.

The airport is the largest hub for Delta Air Lines, and with over 1,000 daily flights, it is the largest airline hub in the world. Delta holds a market share of 78.99% at the airport, and in addition to Delta, low-cost airlines, Southwest Airlines, Frontier Airlines, and Spirit Airlines have a base at the airport. However, their combined market share is only 11.8%.

Since the airport is a Delta hub and thus a SkyTeam fortress, it is not surprising that Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) and Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG), the hubs of Delta joint-venture partners KLM and Air France, are the busiest and third-busiest international routes for the airport. The second-busiest international route is Cancun (CUN) in Mexico, while the busiest domestic routes are Orlando (MCO), New York LaGuardia (LGA), and Fort Lauderdale (FLL).