Countries with the Most Airports in the World

The United States has nearly 20,000 airports nationwide, while Brazil ranks second with over 2,700 airports.

The number of passengers worldwide fluctuated during the pandemic, and predictions regarding the recovery of the market remain uncertain. However, aviation infrastructure around the globe continues to operate. Let’s take a look at the countries with the most airports.

United States

According to data from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the United States has 19,633 airports. Of these, nearly 5,100 are public airports, and over 14,550 are private airports. This statistic is based on the usage of the airports, regardless of ownership.

Facilities that offer scheduled commercial services and handle over 10,000 passengers annually are considered major airports. Accordingly, there are 396 major airports in the United States, primarily concentrated in Texas, Florida, California, and Alaska. Vermont, however, has only one major airport: Burlington International.

Historically, U.S. airports operated under a public ownership model. However, facing declining infrastructure, some airports have begun to shift towards private financing to fund billion-dollar projects. (Photo: CNBC).

Brazil

Ranking second is Brazil, with a total of 2,717 airports, including 534 public facilities and 2,183 private ones. Despite this, the largest country in South America ranks only 10th in the world for passenger numbers. The largest airport in Brazil is São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport (GRU), which served an average of 30 million passengers annually before the pandemic, with flights to 103 destinations across 29 countries and territories.

Mexico

Although it ranks 19th globally in passenger volume, Mexico comes in third on this list with 1,740 airports, of which only 58 have scheduled commercial flights. The largest airport in the country by passenger volume is Mexico City International Airport (MEX), which welcomed over 50 million passengers last year. Cancún International Airport (CUN) on the Yucatán Peninsula ranks second with 25 million passengers.

Mexico City International Airport has been rated 3 stars by Skytrax for its facilities, amenities, cleanliness, shopping, dining services, and security, as well as immigration procedures. Photo: Skytrax

Canada

The second-largest country in the world has 1,620 airports, although most are small. Canada boasts 17 international airports and 250 airports with scheduled flights.

Russia

The largest country in the world has 1,218 airports, with 227 of them registered for scheduled flights by the Federal Air Transport Agency Rosaviatsia. Russia’s westernmost airport is Khrabrovo (KGD) in Kaliningrad, while its easternmost is Lavrentiya, a small airport in Chukotka.

It may surprise many that China, the largest aviation market in the world, does not make it into the top 10 countries with the most airports. In reality, this populous nation has around 235 public airports. It is estimated that China will need approximately 450 airports by 2035 to keep up with the potential growth rate of the market.

As for Vietnam, there are currently 22 airports. According to current planning, by 2030, Vietnam will have a total of 28 airports, including 15 domestic airports and 13 international airports.

Countries with the highest number of airports as of 2022.

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