The ranking of the largest airports in the United States by passenger volume is a complex task, as there are various ways to measure an airport's size. One can look at the number of flight movements, the land size of an airport, the number of destinations, or the total number of passengers passing through an airport in a given year.
The latter is what we'll be doing in this list, focusing on the total number of passengers passing through each airport. This approach provides a comprehensive view of an airport's busiest period and its capacity to handle large volumes of air traffic.
While four of the ten busiest airports in the world are US airports, no US airport makes it into the top ten busiest international airports list, according to data from OAG. This highlights the importance of the domestic market to US airports.
Furthermore, other airports such as Dubai International Airport are growing rapidly and catching up with US airports in terms of passenger volumes. So let's have a look at which US airports are actually the biggest.
New York JFK Airport is the busiest of the three major airports serving the New York City metropolitan area. The airport had over 62.6 million passengers pass through its five terminals in 2025, with these passengers flying on one of 464,281 flights departing or landing at one of the airport's four runways.
The airport is an important hub for both American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, as well as a focus city and home base for JetBlue. United Airlines does not operate any flights to or from New York JFK; instead, opting for Newark as its main hub serving New York.
However, this is soon about to change as the airline is preparing for its return to the oneworld and SkyTeam dominated airport as early as 2027. With almost 1.5 million passengers in 2025, Los Angeles LAX is the most important domestic destination from the airport, followed by San Francisco SFO with over 900,000 passengers.
The airport also welcomes a vast number of international carriers serving destinations on all six inhabited continents, and is a major international gateway to the US. The biggest international airline is British Airways, accounting for a 2.1% market share, and is an important player in the world's most profitable long-haul market between JFK and London Heathrow Airport.
With almost 3.2 million passengers in 2024, the route to London is the airport's busiest international route. Other important international routes from the airport include Paris Charles de Gaulle and Rome Fiumicino.
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. The airport welcomed a total of 73.7 million passengers across 580,996 flights in 2025, representing an almost 4% decrease in total passengers compared to the year prior.
The dominance of US airports in global passenger volumes highlights the country's significant role in international air travel.
