A new graphic shows just how many flights come in and out of some of the world’s busiest passenger airports. An interactive graphic from Addison Lee compares 10 different global airport’s daily take-offs and landings, calculated by a breakdown of their latest seasonal data.
From New York’s JFK to London’s Heathrow, the graphic shows off the flight traffic of major airports by condensing 30 seconds of real time down to just one second.
To add in a bit of data of some of the largest airports in the world with the quick-moving aircraft, the graphic includes the ability to click on a specific airport to learn more information. For example, Atlanta’s airport pumps out 100 flights every hour as 103.9 million passengers move through the airport every year, all under the watchful eye of North America’s tallest air traffic control tower, standing nearly 400 feet high.
At Amsterdam Schiphol, with 59 flights an hour, the lone terminal with 90 gates runs as the third busiest airport in Europe. The six runways help keep traffic moving. London’s Heathrow — the busiest for passenger traffic in Europe and second busiest in the world for international travel — pulls off 54 flights an hour with only two runways.
Beijing Capital, Asia’s busiest passenger airport, runs 68 flights and hour and New York’s JFK features 51 an hour across its six terminals. The busiest international passenger gateway into North America, JFK’s two most popular international routes are London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle.
The chart also offers a glimpse of a trio of tiny airports, such as Barra Airport in Scotland, known for its beach landings. With three runways, inaccessible at high tide, Barra has just three flights per day, but still with about 10,000 passengers per year.
Tim Newcomb is a journalist based in the Pacific Northwest. He covers stadiums, sneakers, gear, infrastructure, and more for a variety of publications, including Popular Mechanics. His favorite interviews have included sit-downs with Roger Federer in Switzerland, Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles, and Tinker Hatfield in Portland.
