Airline route networks really fascinate me. Walking into one of the great airports of the world you can feel the reach of the place and the people who move through it.
S Tier
The handful of irreplaceable hubs that every airline wants to fly to:
Hong Kong (HKG) London (LHR) Los Angeles (LAX) New York (JFK) Paris (CDG) Singapore (SIN) Tokyo (HND)
6 Continent Club
Very few airports can claim to serve 6 continents and it’s hard to not call the members of this club great airports.
From S Tier: CDG, LHR, JFK (New Zealand)
Hardest continents to serve? South America (eliminates HKG, HND, SIN) and Australia (eliminated LHR, CDG until the past few years, still kind of eliminates JFK).
Chicago (ORD) (also New Zealand) Doha (DOH) Dubai (DXB) Houston (IAH) (sometimes) Johannesburg (JNB)* Rome (FCO)
A Tier
Mega-hubs with massive passenger count usually powered by a single airline. Also some regional capitals / gateways.
Amsterdam (AMS) Atlanta (ATL) Beijing (PEK and probably PKX* too) Delhi (DEL) Frankfurt (FRA) Istanbul (IST) Miami (MIA) Seoul (ICN) Shanghai (PVG) Sydney (SYD) Tokyo (NRT)
B Tier
Regionally essential airports that still anchor intercontinental networks like Madrid or São Paulo (both South America <-> Europe), and domestic superhubs with international connectedness like Dallas / Houston.
Addis Ababa (ADD)* Bangkok (BKK) Dallas (DFW) Madrid (MAD) Mexico City (MEX) Moscow (SVO) (pre-war - it’s C tier today)* Munich (MUC) Mumbai (BOM)* New York (EWR) Panama City (PTY)* San Francisco (SFO) São Paulo (GRU) Taipei (TPE) Toronto (YYZ) Vancouver (YVR)
C Tier
Regionally important airports like Anchorage (arctic / cargo), Addis Ababa (west African gateway), and Jeddah (Hajj traffic).
Abu Dhabi (AUH) Anchorage (ANC) Bogota (BOG)* Buenos Aires (EZE) Casablanca (CMN)* Denver (DEN) Honolulu (HNL) Jakarta (CGK)* Jeddah (JED) Kuala Lumpur (KUL) Lima (LIM)* Lisbon (LIS) Manila (MNL) Montreal (YUL) Riyadh (RUH)* Rome (FCO) Santiago (SCL)* Zürich (ZRH)
- I haven’t personally been to these airports. Looking at route maps is great but a list like this is really an exercise in the vibes of an airport.