Is Atlanta a big airport?

What is Atlanta airport size?

According to data from 2019, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport welcomes more than 107 million passengers, meaning that Atlanta has retained its status as the world’s leading airport for over two decades. This leads us to the next question: how large is Atlanta’s airport? It will be pertinent to discuss here why Atlanta has emerged as one of the most active and fastest-growing aviation markets.

Sheer Size

The Atlanta airport is truly huge, occupying a land area of 4,700 acres. To put that into perspective, it is larger than the island of Manhattan for your information. This airport has five perpendicular halves of the track and they can process over 2500 flights per day.

The main terminal complex is relatively large. The airport is also made up of seven concourses, which are linked by an underground shopping and pedestrian system. Both courses T and A measure 0. 5 miles in length in terms of distance. Honestly, even just strolling from one terminal to the other at the airport can be a rather challenging task.

Year-round, Atlanta’s airport sees more than a quarter of a million passengers every single day. During periods in which the flights are most busy, the terminals and concourses are always packed with people. To get the essence of what this airport is, let me start with the statement that the size of this object is beyond any measure.

Number of Passengers

Not only is Atlanta in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic but has been so since the year 2000, when usurped Chicago-O’Hare airport. In the same year, Atlanta ranked first among the airports of the world in terms of passenger traffic, with more than 107 million passengers served, as reported by Airports Council International.

To put this into perspective, the second busiest in the US is LAX, which has traffic of under ninety million. Indeed, the second, third, and fourth largest airports in the United Airlines —the Los Angeles International Airport, the Chicago O’Hare International Airport, and the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport—have not combined reached the capacity of Atlanta airline traffic.

world’s second busiest airport is Beijing, with around 100 million passengers a year. The two other airport cities are Dubai and Tokyo, which also host over 90 million passengers per year.

Thus, while considering the passengers’ number, both international and domestic, Atlanta keeps the top of the list. This is true considering that Atlanta serves over a quarter million travelers every day, which points to the fact that the city is not only big but also massive.

Number of Operations

This airport is also the busiest, not only for passengers but also for the overall movement of flights in Atlanta. On average, there are about 5, 500 to 5, 700 flights coming in and out of the airport on any given day. That is a lot of flights coming in and out in a single day, To mention a single point, it was 1600 flights coming in and 1600 flights going out in a single day.

The only airport that one could compare it to is Chicago O'Hare, which averages about 2,400 aircraft movements per day. But yet, Atlanta surpasses all the other airports if one is to compare it based on the number of planes that come and go at any given station.

This kind of capacity means there must be a lot of aviation-related facilities needed to support these planes' daily operations. From the tarmac to the gate, the air traffic control, and the car parks and transport, all must work like a well-oiled machine for the airport to operate. The mere fact that Atlanta can function cohesively and without any major issues with this many planes per day is already a marvel.

Number of Connections

Not only is Atlanta the most travelers’ busy airport, but it is also the biggest connection point in the majority of the passengers’ journeys, both within the United States and in other countries. As you are aware, Delta Airlines has Atlanta as its major hub and headquarters. And given that Delta is one of the biggest airlines globally, it provides numerous straight flights to and from Atlanta.

While a lot of people are transiting through Atlanta to get to another destination, there are, in fact, many. Situated in the Southeast United States, it plays the role of a hinge for people who are either transiting within the country or coming from other countries. It deals with over 1,000 daily flight operations, all of which are exclusively handled by Delta.

That is, the airport has the facility to operate direct flights to 150 or more domestic airports and over 75 international airports in 50 countries. No matter if a person is flying for work or leisure, chances are high that at some point he or she will pass through the energetic Atlanta. Its connectivity, both within the domestic American market and the international market, makes it stand out.

Air Cargo Volume

Furthermore, it is an air cargo hub with significant air cargo throughput over several years. In 2018 for instance, it handled over 700,000 metric tons of air cargo, making it the market leader nationally and second across the globe. To manage such a mammoth cargo operation, extensive dedicated space is needed, and the existing provision in the city is more than adequate.

The city of Atlanta currently has two cargo complexes: North and South, both of which comprise an area of 140 acres in total. Delta has a large cargo hub, with a 250 thousand-square-foot sorting facility and additional refrigerated space. It means that large investments are necessary to ensure that the airport has sufficient facilities to accommodate the high levels of cargo traffic.

The Bottom Line

Thus, when comparing all of the various qualities with the aid of strictly numerical values—size, passenger traffic, flight activity, connection, and cargo—no other airport can even be considered a contender in regards to Atlanta. As measured by nearly all indicators that determine the magnitude of airports, it leads both domestically and internationally.

Whether one is transiting with a connection flight or popping in for a quick nap because their flight has been rescheduled, Atlanta has the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport ready to make a first-time visitor’s jaw drop due to the size of the airport. On a numerical scale, it would be hard to argue that Atlanta does not warrant the title of the world’s busiest airport. Statistically for passengers who fly in the air, there are high probabilities that their flight trip will take them through Atlanta hubs.

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