The world's most connected airports of 2016
Which airports are the most connected in the world? Find out in the 2016 edition of OAG’s Megahubs Index.
The enduring power of the hub and spoke system in the United States is clear with US airports claiming 22 of the Top 50 Megahub places worldwide, and dominating rankings. This year Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) grabs the top spot from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL), which has moved into second position.
These airports combine sheer scale of airline operations with a large number of destinations served to maximise the potential connections within a six-hour time window. The top performers outside the US – airports such as Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International (ranked 7th) and Tokyo Haneda (raked 11th) - typically have flights to fewer destinations but compensate with high operating frequencies to those destinations and resulting in high levels of connectivity for passengers.
Southwest Airlines, the world’s first low cost carrier, is still showing how to make low cost work. The carrier is the largest low cost operator at each of the three top-ranked Low Cost Megahubs, those airports which have the highest level of connectivity between low cost flights – Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW), Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI) and McCarran International Airport at Las Vegas (LAS).
Chicago is just one of four cities in the OAG 2016 Megahubs Index which can claim a place in both the overall Megahubs Index as well as the Low Cost Megahubs, the others being Istanbul (Istanbul Airport and Sabiha Gokcen Airport), Bangkok (Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport and Don Mueang Airport) and London (Heathrow and Gatwick).
Outside of North America, Asia Pacific has the most airports among the Top 50 Megahubs with 16, followed by Europe with 6 and Latin America with 4.