last edited Feb 5, 2020
Airports
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Location Map of Destinations
Destinations
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IATA Code
The "IATA Code" is an international system that assigns three letters to cities and airports (e.g., BOD for Bordeaux). It is managed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA in English).
You’ll find these codes on tickets, airport information screens, airline timetables, and sometimes in travel agency documents. A similar coding system also exists for airlines.
Note that alongside the IATA code, there is another similar system called ICAO.
Traffic and "Quality"
Traffic
For 2018, the world’s top twenty airports by passenger traffic:
1- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta (United States): 103,902,992.
2- Beijing Capital (China): 95,786,442.
3- Dubai International (United Arab Emirates): 88,242,099.
4- Tokyo Haneda (Japan): 85,408,975.
5- Los Angeles International (United States): 84,557,968.
6- Chicago O'Hare (United States): 79,828,183.
7- London Heathrow (England): 78,014,598.
8- Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok (Hong Kong/China): 72,665,078.
9- Shanghai Pudong International (China): 70,001,237.
10- Paris Charles de Gaulle (France): 69,471,442.
11- Amsterdam Schiphol (Netherlands): 68,515,425.
12- Dallas-Fort Worth (United States): 67,092,194.
13- Guangzhou Baiyun Airport (China): 65,887,473.
14- Frankfurt International (Germany): 64,500,386.
15- Istanbul Atatürk (Turkey): 63,859,785.
16- Delhi Indira Gandhi International (India): 63,451,503.
17- Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International (Indonesia): 63,015,620.
18- Singapore Changi Airport (Singapore): 62,219,573.
19- Seoul Incheon (South Korea): 62,157,834.
20- Denver International (United States): 61,379,396.
Quality
For operations and services, the Skytrax website— the global benchmark in this field—annually ranks the world’s best airports across multiple criteria. For 2018:
Worldwide
1- Singapore Changi (Singapore)
2- Seoul Incheon (South Korea)
3- Tokyo Haneda (Japan)
4- Hong Kong International (Hong Kong/China)
5- Doha Hamad International (Qatar)
6- Munich Airport (Germany)
7- Nagoya Chubu Centrair (Japan)
8- London Heathrow (England)
9- Zurich Airport (Switzerland)
10- Frankfurt International (Germany)
By region
- North America: Vancouver (Canada) ahead of Denver (USA).
- Central America and the Caribbean: Panama Tocumen (Panama) ahead of San Jose International (Costa Rica).
- South America: Bogotá El Dorado (Colombia) ahead of Quito (Ecuador).
- Pacific: Sydney Kingsford Smith (Australia) ahead of Brisbane Airport (Australia).
- Asia: Singapore Changi (Singapore) ahead of Seoul Incheon (South Korea).
- Middle East: Doha Hamad (Qatar) ahead of Dubai International (United Arab Emirates).
- Africa: Cape Town International (South Africa) ahead of Durban King Shaka (South Africa).
- Europe: Munich Airport (Germany) ahead of London Heathrow (England).
Categories
- Best international transit: Hong Kong International (Hong Kong/China) ahead of Singapore Changi (Singapore).
- Best baggage handling: Kansai Airport (Japan) ahead of Tokyo Haneda (Japan).
- Best duty-free: London Heathrow (England) ahead of Singapore Changi (Singapore).
- Best security measures: Tokyo Haneda (Japan) ahead of Nagoya Chubu Centrair (Japan).
- Best immigration service: Taoyuan Airport (Taiwan) ahead of Nagoya Chubu Centrair (Japan).
French Airports
France has around a hundred airports—many of them "unnecessary" and highly unprofitable—serving passenger traffic (sometimes very minimal for some). Overall, about twenty handle over a million passengers per year (and are still growing). Their 2019 traffic:
In France
1- Paris Charles de Gaulle: 76.15 million.
2- Paris Orly: 31.85 million.
3- Nice: 14.5 million.
4- Lyon: 11.8 million.
5- Marseille: 10.1 million.
6- Toulouse: 9.8 million.
7- Basel-Mulhouse: 9 million.
8- Bordeaux: 7.7 million.
9- Nantes: 7.2 million.
10- Beauvais: 3.9 million.
11- Saint-Denis Réunion: 2.47 million.
12- Pointe-à-Pitre: 2.44 million.
13- Lille: 2.2 million.
14- Fort-de-France: 2 million.
15- Montpellier: 1.9 million.
16- Ajaccio: 1.7 million.
17- Bastia: 1.5 million.
18- Tahiti: 1.4 million.
19- Strasbourg: 1.3 million.
20- Biarritz: 1.2 million.
Paris Airports
The Paris region has four airports, though the one grandly called "Paris-Vatry Airport," 150 km from the capital (!), serves very few passengers (135,000 in 2017).
Roissy - Charles de Gaulle (CDG)
Roissy is the main Paris airport and the 10th largest worldwide. It is located 25 km northeast of Paris. It is also the best connected to the capital, with several bus lines: RATP Bus 350 (from Gare de l'Est) and 351 (from Nation), Roissybus (Opéra), Air France buses (Étoile with a stop at Porte Maillot), plus the night bus "Noctilien" (Châtelet) and the low-cost easyBus with fares starting at 2 € per trip. By rail: the Roissyrail on RER Line B (Gare du Nord), plus the TGV Nord, Ouest, and Sud networks (and Thalys) with direct connections to Gare Roissy2.
For connections between Roissy and Orly (and vice versa) by public transport, you can take the Air France buses or Orlyval + RER B. Other options are available with one or more changes in Paris.
Paris - Orly (ORY)
Orly is 14 km south of Paris. The airport is accessible by bus from Paris with RATP Bus 183 (Porte de Choisy), Bus 285 (from Villejuif or Juvisy-sur-Orge), Orlybus (Denfert), and Air France buses (Invalides via Montparnasse). Also the night bus "Noctilien." By rail: Orly Rail on RER Line C, and Orlyval connecting with RER Line B at Antony.
Paris - Beauvais Tillé (BVA)
Beauvais-Tillé Airport is located 80 km north of Paris and serves around 4 million passengers per year, mainly low-cost flights. It is accessible by shuttle bus from Paris (Porte Maillot) or by train (Paris Gare du Nord to Beauvais station) + taxi. Allow roughly 1 hour 15 minutes for the journey.
Paris-Vatry Airport (XCR)
Vatry Airport is located 150 km east of Paris. It has no direct shuttle to the capital and requires a transfer via the SNCF station in Châlons-en-Champagne, about 20 km from the airport.
Websites
Websites for hundreds of airports worldwide.