Airport Codes (IATA & ICAO) & World Airport Statistics (2026)

Name: World Airports Database — Number of Airports by Country
Creator: Ecer Freight

Search 9,474 airports in 224 countries and territories — IATA & ICAO codes, cities and instant air-freight quotes. See how many airports every country has, ranked and sourced.

Browse Airports by Country See Global Statistics

Global Airport Statistics at a Glance

9,474Airports indexed in the Ecer Freight databaseFirst-party data · Oct 2026

224Countries & territories coveredISO 3166-1 grouping

12,000+IATA location codes worldwideIATA, 2025

9.8 bnPassengers in 2025 (+3.7% YoY)ACI World, 2026 edition

Air traffic keeps setting records: 9.8 billion passengers, 131 million tonnes of cargo and 102.9 million aircraft movements were handled in 2025 (ACI World). The numbers above measure different things: our first-party index counts every catalogued airport with an IATA or ICAO code; OAG counts only airports with scheduled passenger flights (3,962); IATA counts every coded location of any kind (12,000+). Use the lens that fits your question — all of them are broken down by country below.

Which country has the most airports?

The United States, by any measure: 2,114 airports in the Ecer Freight index — more than the next two countries combined — and 19,482 airport facilities on the FAA register, which includes private strips, heliports and seaplane bases. Australia follows with 662, then Canada (585), Papua New Guinea (372) and Brazil (308).

How many airports are there in the world?

There is no single answer — it depends on the definition. OAG counts 3,962 airports with scheduled passenger flights (November 2025); IATA assigns codes to 12,000+ locations of every kind; ACI World collects traffic from more than 2,800 airports. The Ecer Freight Airports Database indexes 9,474 airports across 224 countries and territories, each with codes, city and coordinates.

What is the busiest airport in the world?

By passengers: Atlanta Hartsfield–Jackson (ATL) with 106.3 million in 2025 (ACI). By international passengers: Dubai (DXB), 95.2 million. By cargo: Hong Kong (HKG) with 5.07 million tonnes, ahead of Shanghai Pudong (4.09 Mt). By aircraft movements: Chicago O'Hare (ORD), 857,392.

Number of Airports by Country — Full Ranking (2026)

How many airports does each country have? The table ranks all 224 countries and territories by the number of airports in the Ecer Freight database (9,474 entries in total). Counts include international, regional and domestic airports with recorded IATA or ICAO codes; click any country to open its full airport list with codes, cities and freight quotes. For the curated major-airport view with regional analysis, see Airports by Country.

Top 20 countries by number of indexed airports — Ecer Freight Airports Database, October 2026

Rank	Country / Territory	Region	Airports (bar = relative scale)	Share
1	US United States	North America	2,114	22.3%
2	AU Australia	Oceania	662	7.0%
3	CA Canada	North America	585	6.2%
4	PG Papua New Guinea	Oceania	372	3.9%
5	BR Brazil	South America	308	3.3%
6	CN China	Asia	253	2.7%
7	ID Indonesia	Asia	212	2.2%
8	RU Russia	Europe	206	2.2%
9	GB United Kingdom	Europe	165	1.7%
10	FR France	Europe	160	1.7%
11	CO Colombia	South America	156	1.6%
12	IN India	Asia	144	1.5%
13	DE Germany	Europe	132	1.4%
14	JP Japan	Asia	108	1.1%
15	MX Mexico	Central America & Caribbean	103	1.1%
16	AR Argentina	South America	96	1.0%
17	ZA South Africa	Africa	93	1.0%
18	IT Italy	Europe	76	0.8%
19	PH Philippines	Asia	76	0.8%
20	IR Iran	Middle East	75	0.8%

Complete list: airports in all 224 countries and territories

All 224 countries and territories ranked by indexed airport count — expand the table to browse the full ranking

Rank	Country / Territory	Region	Airports (bar = relative scale)	Share
1	US United States	North America	2,114	22.3%
2	AU Australia	Oceania	662	7.0%
3	CA Canada	North America	585	6.2%
4	PG Papua New Guinea	Oceania	372	3.9%
5	BR Brazil	South America	308	3.3%
6	CN China	Asia	253	2.7%
7	ID Indonesia	Asia	212	2.2%
8	RU Russia	Europe	206	2.2%
9	GB United Kingdom	Europe	165	1.7%
10	FR France	Europe	160	1.7%
11	CO Colombia	South America	156	1.6%
12	IN India	Asia	144	1.5%
13	DE Germany	Europe	132	1.4%
14	JP Japan	Asia	108	1.1%
15	MX Mexico	Central America & Caribbean	103	1.1%
16	AR Argentina	South America	96	1.0%
17	ZA South Africa	Africa	93	1.0%
18	IT Italy	Europe	76	0.8%
19	PH Philippines	Asia	76	0.8%
20	IR Iran	Middle East	75	0.8%
21	TR Turkey	Middle East	71	0.7%
22	PK Pakistan	Asia	65	0.7%
23	MY Malaysia	Asia	64	0.7%
24	VE Venezuela	South America	64	0.7%
25	MG Madagascar	Africa	62	0.7%
26	NO Norway	Europe	62	0.7%
27	NZ New Zealand	Oceania	61	0.6%
28	SE Sweden	Europe	61	0.6%
29	NP Nepal	Asia	54	0.6%
30	ES Spain	Europe	52	0.5%
31	ET Ethiopia	Africa	50	0.5%
32	CL Chile	South America	49	0.5%
33	CD DR Congo	Africa	49	0.5%
34	GR Greece	Europe	48	0.5%
35	MM Myanmar	Asia	48	0.5%
36	DZ Algeria	Africa	47	0.5%
37	PF French Polynesia	Oceania	46	0.5%
38	TH Thailand	Asia	46	0.5%
39	IS Iceland	Europe	45	0.5%
40	UA Ukraine	Europe	44	0.5%
41	SA Saudi Arabia	Middle East	43	0.5%
42	AO Angola	Africa	42	0.4%
43	GA Gabon	Africa	42	0.4%
44	NL Netherlands	Europe	42	0.4%
45	PE Peru	South America	40	0.4%
46	BO Bolivia	South America	39	0.4%
47	FI Finland	Europe	38	0.4%
48	VN Vietnam	Asia	38	0.4%
49	PA Panama	Central America & Caribbean	37	0.4%
50	SB Solomon Islands	Oceania	37	0.4%
51	BS Bahamas	Central America & Caribbean	36	0.4%
52	KE Kenya	Africa	36	0.4%
53	KR South Korea	Asia	36	0.4%
54	AF Afghanistan	Asia	35	0.4%
55	MZ Mozambique	Asia	35	0.4%
56	VU Vanuatu	Oceania	35	0.4%
57	HN Honduras	Central America & Caribbean	34	0.4%
58	GL Greenland	North America	33	0.3%
59	EC Ecuador	South America	31	0.3%
60	NA Namibia	Africa	31	0.3%
61	CU Cuba	Central America & Caribbean	30	0.3%
62	KZ Kazakhstan	Asia	30	0.3%
63	LK Sri Lanka	Asia	30	0.3%
64	CR Costa Rica	Central America & Caribbean	29	0.3%
65	SD Sudan	Africa	28	0.3%
66	MH Marshall Islands	Oceania	27	0.3%
67	EG Egypt	Africa	26	0.3%
68	GY Guyana	South America	26	0.3%
69	TZ Tanzania	Africa	26	0.3%
70	YE Yemen	Middle East	26	0.3%
71	MN Mongolia	Asia	25	0.3%
72	PT Portugal	Europe	25	0.3%
73	CI Côte d'Ivoire	Africa	24	0.3%
74	FJ Fiji	Oceania	24	0.3%
75	MR Mauritania	Africa	24	0.3%
76	NG Nigeria	Africa	23	0.2%
77	PL Poland	Europe	23	0.2%
78	DK Denmark	Europe	22	0.2%
79	GT Guatemala	Central America & Caribbean	22	0.2%
80	MA Morocco	Africa	22	0.2%
81	ZM Zambia	Africa	22	0.2%
82	TW Taiwan	Asia	21	0.2%
83	BD Bangladesh	Asia	20	0.2%
84	CM Cameroon	Africa	20	0.2%
85	KI Kiribati	Oceania	20	0.2%
86	OM Oman	Middle East	20	0.2%
87	RO Romania	Europe	20	0.2%
88	SO Somalia	Africa	20	0.2%
89	BZ Belize	Central America & Caribbean	19	0.2%
90	IE Ireland	Europe	19	0.2%
91	BF Burkina Faso	Asia	19	0.2%
92	TD Chad	Africa	17	0.2%
93	KH Cambodia	Asia	17	0.2%
94	NC New Caledonia	Oceania	17	0.2%
95	BW Botswana	Africa	16	0.2%
96	CH Switzerland	Europe	16	0.2%
97	IL Israel	Middle East	15	0.2%
98	LA Laos	Asia	15	0.2%
99	LS Lesotho	Africa	15	0.2%
100	LR Liberia	Africa	15	0.2%
101	SN Senegal	Africa	15	0.2%
102	SR Suriname	South America	15	0.2%
103	CG Congo	Africa	15	0.2%
104	CF Central African Republic	Africa	14	0.1%
105	AE United Arab Emirates	Middle East	14	0.1%
106	UZ Uzbekistan	Asia	14	0.1%
107	BE Belgium	Europe	13	0.1%
108	BG Bulgaria	Europe	13	0.1%
109	IQ Iraq	Middle East	13	0.1%
110	ML Mali	Africa	13	0.1%
111	UY Uruguay	South America	13	0.1%
112	ZW Zimbabwe	Africa	13	0.1%
113	LY Libya	Africa	12	0.1%
114	MW Malawi	Africa	12	0.1%
115	MV Maldives	Asia	12	0.1%
116	AZ Azerbaijan	Asia	11	0.1%
117	GN Guinea	Africa	11	0.1%
118	NI Nicaragua	Central America & Caribbean	11	0.1%
119	PY Paraguay	South America	11	0.1%
120	TN Tunisia	Africa	11	0.1%
121	UG Uganda	Africa	11	0.1%
122	CK Cook Islands	Oceania	10	0.1%
123	HR Croatia	Europe	10	0.1%
124	DO Dominican Republic	Central America & Caribbean	10	0.1%
125	AT Austria	Europe	9	0.1%
126	CV Cabo Verde	Africa	9	0.1%
127	LT Lithuania	Europe	9	0.1%
128	SK Slovakia	Europe	9	0.1%
129	HU Hungary	Europe	8	0.1%
130	SL Sierra Leone	Africa	8	0.1%
131	CY Cyprus	Middle East	7	0.1%
132	DM Dominica	Central America & Caribbean	7	0.1%
133	TL Timor-Leste	Asia	7	0.1%
134	GP Guadeloupe	Central America & Caribbean	7	0.1%
135	JM Jamaica	Central America & Caribbean	7	0.1%
136	ME Montenegro	Europe	7	0.1%
137	CZ Czech Republic	Europe	7	0.1%
138	BJ Benin	Africa	6	0.1%
139	BA Bosnia and Herzegovina	Europe	6	0.1%
140	BY Belarus	Europe	6	0.1%
141	GQ Equatorial Guinea	Africa	6	0.1%
142	EE Estonia	Europe	6	0.1%
143	JO Jordan	Middle East	6	0.1%
144	FM Micronesia	Oceania	6	0.1%
145	AS American Samoa	Oceania	5	0.1%
146	DJ Djibouti	Africa	5	0.1%
147	GF French Guiana	South America	5	0.1%
148	GH Ghana	Africa	5	0.1%
149	HT Haiti	Central America & Caribbean	5	0.1%
150	LV Latvia	Europe	5	0.1%
151	RS Serbia	Europe	5	0.1%
152	RW Rwanda	Africa	5	0.1%
153	VC St. Vincent & the Grenadines	Central America & Caribbean	5	0.1%
154	NE Niger	Africa	5	0.1%
155	TM Turkmenistan	Asia	5	0.1%
156	TC Turks and Caicos Islands	Central America & Caribbean	5	0.1%
157	KM Comoros	Africa	4	0.0%
158	GE Georgia	Asia	4	0.0%
159	KG Kyrgyzstan	Asia	4	0.0%
160	SC Seychelles	Africa	4	0.0%
161	SG Singapore	Asia	4	0.0%
162	TJ Tajikistan	Asia	4	0.0%
163	BT Bhutan	Asia	3	0.0%
164	BI Burundi	Africa	3	0.0%
165	KY Cayman Islands	Central America & Caribbean	3	0.0%
166	ER Eritrea	Africa	3	0.0%
167	KW Kuwait	Middle East	3	0.0%
168	ST São Tomé & Príncipe	Africa	3	0.0%
169	SI Slovenia	Europe	3	0.0%
170	TO Tonga	Oceania	3	0.0%
171	VG British Virgin Islands	Central America & Caribbean	3	0.0%
172	WS Samoa	Oceania	3	0.0%
173	AM Armenia	Asia	2	0.0%
174	SZ Eswatini	Africa	2	0.0%
175	FK Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	South America	2	0.0%
176	GW Guinea-Bissau	Africa	2	0.0%
177	LB Lebanon	Middle East	2	0.0%
178	LU Luxembourg	Europe	2	0.0%
179	MK North Macedonia	Europe	2	0.0%
180	MT Malta	Europe	2	0.0%
181	MU Mauritius	Africa	2	0.0%
182	PR Puerto Rico	Central America & Caribbean	2	0.0%
183	QA Qatar	Middle East	2	0.0%
184	RE Réunion	Africa	2	0.0%
185	LC St. Lucia	Central America & Caribbean	2	0.0%
186	MF Sint Maarten	Central America & Caribbean	2	0.0%
187	PM SAINT PIERRE AND MIQUELON	North America	2	0.0%
188	TG Togo	Africa	2	0.0%
189	TT Trinidad and Tobago	Central America & Caribbean	2	0.0%
190	WF Wallis & Futuna	Oceania	2	0.0%
191	AL Albania	Europe	1	0.0%
192	AD Andorra	Europe	1	0.0%
193	AI Anguilla	Central America & Caribbean	1	0.0%
194	AG Antigua & Barbuda	Central America & Caribbean	1	0.0%
195	AW Aruba	Central America & Caribbean	1	0.0%
196	BH Bahrain	Middle East	1	0.0%
197	BB Barbados	Central America & Caribbean	1	0.0%
198	BM Bermuda	North America	1	0.0%
199	CX Christmas Island	Oceania	1	0.0%
200	CC Cocos (Keeling) Islands	Oceania	1	0.0%
201	XC Caribbean Netherlands (Antilles)	Central America & Caribbean	1	0.0%
202	SV El Salvador	Central America & Caribbean	1	0.0%
203	FO Faroe Islands	Europe	1	0.0%
204	GM Gambia	Africa	1	0.0%
205	GI Gibraltar	Europe	1	0.0%
206	GD Grenada	Central America & Caribbean	1	0.0%
207	GU Guam	Oceania	1	0.0%
208	HK Hong Kong (China)	Asia	1	0.0%
209	XK Kosovo	Europe	1	0.0%
210	MO Macau	Asia	1	0.0%
211	MQ Martinique	Central America & Caribbean	1	0.0%
212	YT Mayotte	Africa	1	0.0%
213	MC Monaco	Europe	1	0.0%
214	MS Montserrat	Central America & Caribbean	1	0.0%
215	NR Nauru	Oceania	1	0.0%
216	NU Niue	Oceania	1	0.0%
217	NF NORFOLK ISLAND	Oceania	1	0.0%
218	PW Palau	Oceania	1	0.0%
219	KN St. Kitts & Nevis	Central America & Caribbean	1	0.0%
220	BL St. Barthélemy	Central America & Caribbean	1	0.0%
221	SX Sint Maarten	Central America & Caribbean	1	0.0%
222	SJ Svalbard & Jan Mayen	Europe	1	0.0%
223	TV Tuvalu	Oceania	1	0.0%
224	EH Western Sahara	Africa	1	0.0%

Airports of the World by Region

The 9,474 indexed airports distribute unevenly across the eight world regions. North America's count is dominated by the United States (2,114 entries, more than a fifth of the world total), while Europe and Asia together account for 30%% of all entries. Click a region to jump to its country-by-country airport list.

9,474airports

Indexed airports by world region — Ecer Freight Airports Database, October 2026

Region	Countries & territories	Indexed airports	Share	Largest airport country
Asia	37	1,474	15.6%	CN China
Europe	47	1,391	14.7%	RU Russia
North America	5	2,735	28.9%	US United States
Central America & Caribbean	37	396	4.2%	MX Mexico
South America	15	856	9.0%	BR Brazil
Middle East	15	302	3.2%	IR Iran
Africa	56	965	10.2%	ZA South Africa
Oceania	27	1,355	14.3%	AU Australia

How Many Airports Are There? Who Counts What

Independent verification matters. "Number of airports in the world" has no single answer because every authority counts a different universe: OAG counts airports with scheduled passenger service; IATA counts coded locations of every kind; the FAA counts every U.S. landing facility including private strips; ACI counts airports that report traffic data; our index counts every catalogued airport with an IATA or ICAO code. The table compares the definitions side by side.

World airport counts by authority and definition — figures as published, retrieved October 2026

Source	What it counts	Latest figure
OAG (Nov 2025)	Airports with scheduled passenger flights	3,962
ACI World (2026 edition)	Airports reporting traffic data, in 185+ countries	2,800+
Ecer Freight (Oct 2026)	Catalogued airports with IATA or ICAO codes, in 224 countries and territories	9,474
IATA (2025)	Three-letter location codes: airports, cities, heliports and rail stations	12,000+
U.S. FAA	Every U.S. airport facility — public, private, heliports and seaplane bases (United States only)	19,482

Use the definition that matches your question: for "airports you can book a flight from", the OAG scheduled-service count (3,962) is the right lens; for "every coded aerodrome", IATA's register (12,000+ locations); for a country-by-country breakdown with codes, cities and coordinates, browse the ranking above or Airports by Country.

World's Busiest Airports (2025 full-year)

ACI World's 2026 edition covers full-year 2025: 9.8 billion passengers (+3.7%), 131 million tonnes of cargo (+3.3%) and 102.9 million aircraft movements (+2.0%) across more than 2,800 reporting airports. Chicago O'Hare leads movements (857,392); Atlanta keeps the passenger crown (106.3 M); Hong Kong leads cargo (5.07 Mt). The two league tables below rank the world's top 20 by cargo tonnage and passenger volume — every airport links to its code page and every country to its full airport list.

World's top 20 cargo airports, 2025 full-year — ACI World Airport Traffic Dataset (2026 edition)

Rank	Airport	Country	IATA	Cargo 2025 (tonnes)	YoY
1	Hong Kong (Chek Lap Kok)	HK Hong Kong (China)	HKG	5,066,345	+2.7%
2	Shanghai Pudong	CN China	PVG	4,091,941	+8.3%
3	Anchorage (Ted Stevens)	US United States	ANC	3,854,614	+4.2%
4	Louisville (Muhammad Ali)	US United States	SDF	3,396,437	+13.5%
5	Miami	US United States	MIA	3,128,165	+13.6%
6	Memphis	US United States	MEM	2,969,502	-20.9%
7	Seoul Incheon	KR South Korea	ICN	2,954,684	+0.3%
8	Doha (Hamad)	QA Qatar	DOH	2,614,214	-0.1%
9	Taipei Taoyuan	TW Taiwan	TPE	2,499,899	+10.1%
10	Guangzhou Baiyun	CN China	CAN	2,439,248	+2.4%
11	Dubai	AE United Arab Emirates	DXB	2,146,173	—
12	Chicago O'Hare	US United States	ORD	2,125,628	—
13	Tokyo Narita	JP Japan	NRT	2,097,966	—
14	Singapore Changi	SG Singapore	SIN	2,093,900	—
15	Los Angeles	US United States	LAX	2,070,220	—
16	Shenzhen Bao'an	CN China	SZX	2,061,455	+9.6%
17	Frankfurt	DE Germany	FRA	2,026,789	—
18	Istanbul	TR Turkey	IST	1,980,600	—
19	Paris Charles de Gaulle	FR France	CDG	1,939,526	—
20	London Heathrow	GB United Kingdom	LHR	1,591,964	—

Cargo tonnage = freight + mail as reported to ACI World; YoY = change vs 2024, "—" where a comparable was not published in our retrieval. Anchorage (ANC) stays top-3 as the trans-Pacific refuelling hub; Louisville (SDF, UPS Worldport) and Miami (MIA, Latin America gateway) both grew over 13%; Memphis (MEM) fell 20.9% as express networks rebalanced volumes.

World's top 20 passenger airports, 2025 full-year — ACI World Airport Traffic Dataset (2026 edition)

Rank	Airport	Country	IATA	Passengers 2025	YoY
1	Atlanta (Hartsfield–Jackson)	US United States	ATL	106,302,208	-1.6%
2	Dubai	AE United Arab Emirates	DXB	95,192,160	+3.1%
3	Tokyo Haneda	JP Japan	HND	91,679,814	+6.7%
4	Dallas/Fort Worth	US United States	DFW	85,660,127	—
5	Shanghai Pudong	CN China	PVG	84,994,548	+10.7%
6	Chicago O'Hare	US United States	ORD	84,856,018	—
7	London Heathrow	GB United Kingdom	LHR	84,482,126	—
8	Istanbul	TR Turkey	IST	84,437,710	—
9	Guangzhou Baiyun	CN China	CAN	83,582,952	+9.5%
10	Denver	US United States	DEN	82,427,962	—
11	Delhi (Indira Gandhi)	IN India	DEL	78,148,081	—
12	Seoul Incheon	KR South Korea	ICN	74,126,912	—
13	Los Angeles	US United States	LAX	73,709,594	—
14	Paris Charles de Gaulle	FR France	CDG	72,029,407	—
15	Beijing Capital	CN China	PEK	70,742,712	+5.0%
16	Singapore Changi	SG Singapore	SIN	69,982,000	—
17	Amsterdam Schiphol	NL Netherlands	AMS	68,771,592	—
18	Madrid (Barajas)	ES Spain	MAD	68,118,754	—
19	Shenzhen Bao'an	CN China	SZX	66,485,213	+8.2%
20	Kuala Lumpur	MY Malaysia	KUL	63,409,501	+11.0%

Total passengers (domestic + international). Dubai is #1 for international passengers (95.2 M, virtually all of its traffic); Shanghai Pudong climbed from #10 to #5 in a single year (+10.7%). Aircraft-movement leaders: Chicago O'Hare 857,392, Atlanta 807,625, Dallas/Fort Worth 743,394.

China Airport Snapshot 2025

270Certificated transport airports (net +7 in 2025)CAAC 2025 Bulletin

1.529 bnPassengers (+4.8% YoY)CAAC 2025 Bulletin

21.86 M tCargo & mail (+9.0% YoY)CAAC 2025 Bulletin

41Airports above 10 M passengers (83.7% of traffic)CAAC 2025 Bulletin

Shanghai Pudong and Guangzhou Baiyun both crossed 80 million passengers for the first time, Pudong set a new cargo record above 4 million tonnes, and dedicated cargo hub Ezhou Huahu broke 1 million tonnes in its third year. Four of the world's top ten cargo airports are Chinese (HKG, PVG, CAN, SZX). Browse all 253 indexed airports in China.

Airport Codes: What They Are and How to Read Them

What is an IATA airport code?

A three-letter commercial identifier assigned by the International Air Transport Association — the codes you see on tickets, baggage tags, booking engines and air waybills. IATA maintains more than 12,000 location codes covering airports, cities, heliports and even rail stations. One wrong letter can misroute cargo or hold it in customs, because the code drives booking, baggage handling and AWB routing.

PVG LHR DXB JFK

What is an ICAO airport code?

A four-letter operational identifier assigned under ICAO Doc 7910 (International Civil Aviation Organization, a UN agency). ICAO codes are used in flight plans, air-traffic control, NOTAMs and weather reports (METAR/TAF). The first letter marks a world region, the second a country or sub-region: K = contiguous U.S., C = Canada, Z = China & Mongolia, E = northern Europe, L = southern Europe, U = Russia/CIS, O = Middle East, V = south Asia, W = southeast Asia, Y = Australia, N = Pacific, S = South America, M/T = Mexico–Central America/Caribbean, H/D/F = Africa, R = Japan/Korea/Philippines, P = U.S. Pacific (Alaska, Hawaii).

ZSPD KJFK EGLL LFPG

IATA vs ICAO — and how to verify

Same airport, two codes: Shanghai Pudong is PVG (commercial) and ZSPD (operational); London Heathrow is LHR / EGLL. In the contiguous U.S. the ICAO code is usually K + the IATA code (JFK → KJFK). Codes change when airports do: Beijing added Daxing (PKX/ZBAD) beside Capital (PEK/ZBAA); Chengdu added Tianfu (TFU/ZUTF); Istanbul's new airport took over IST. Verify against the IATA directory, ICAO Doc 7910 — or simply search any code in the box above.

Methodology & Sources

How we count. Every entry in the Ecer Freight Airports Database is an airport with recorded coordinates and an IATA or ICAO code, grouped by ISO 3166-1 country or territory as of October 2026. Counts include international, regional and domestic airports; closed airports are excluded. External rankings (ACI, CAAC, OAG, FAA) are shown separately with their own definitions and reference periods.

Sources (retrieved and verified October 22, 2026):

Ecer Freight Airports Database (first-party) — Index of 9,474 airports across 224 countries and territories with IATA and ICAO codes, cities and coordinates, compiled from civil aviation registries, code lists and airline schedule data; reviewed quarterly. scm-en.ecer.com/airport.html
ACI World — World Airport Traffic Dataset (2026 edition, full-year 2025 rankings) — the global standard for airport traffic rankings: 9.8 billion passengers (+3.7%), 131 million tonnes of cargo (+3.3%) and 102.9 million aircraft movements (+2.0%) across more than 2,800 reporting airports in 185+ countries. aci.aero/resources/busiest-airports-in-the-world
Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) — 2025 Statistical Bulletin on Civil Aviation Industry Development — 270 certificated transport airports; 1.529 billion passengers (+4.8%), 21.86 million tonnes of cargo & mail (+9.0%), 12.45 million aircraft movements in 2025. www.caac.gov.cn
OAG — scheduled-service airport count — 3,962 airports had scheduled passenger flights in November 2025; the standard reference for commercially served airports. www.oag.com
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) — 19,482 airport facilities in the United States, including public-use airports, private strips, heliports and seaplane bases. www.faa.gov/airports

Frequently Asked Questions

How many airports are there in the world?

It depends on the definition. OAG counts 3,962 airports with scheduled passenger flights (November 2025). IATA assigns codes to 12,000+ locations of every kind (airports, cities, heliports, rail stations). The U.S. FAA alone records 19,482 airport facilities. The Ecer Freight Airports Database indexes 9,474 airports across 224 countries and territories.

Which country has the most airports?

The United States — 2,114 indexed airports in the Ecer Freight database, more than the next two countries combined (Australia 662, Canada 585). The FAA's own register lists 19,482 U.S. facilities when private strips, heliports and seaplane bases are included. The U.S. lead reflects the scale of general aviation; by scheduled commercial service, China (270 transport airports per CAAC) and the large European networks are denser relative to size.

What is the busiest airport in the world?

By passengers: Atlanta Hartsfield–Jackson (ATL) — 106.3 million in 2025 (ACI World). By international passengers: Dubai (DXB) — 95.2 million. By cargo: Hong Kong (HKG) — 5.07 million tonnes, ahead of Shanghai Pudong (4.09 Mt). By aircraft movements: Chicago O'Hare (ORD) — 857,392.

What is an IATA airport code?

A three-letter identifier such as PVG, JFK or DXB, assigned by the International Air Transport Association. IATA codes appear on tickets, boarding passes, baggage tags, booking engines and air waybills — they are the commercial language of aviation. IATA maintains more than 12,000 location codes worldwide.

What is the difference between IATA and ICAO codes?

IATA codes are three letters and commercial (ticketing, baggage, air waybills). ICAO codes are four letters and operational (flight planning, air-traffic control, weather reports), assigned under ICAO Doc 7910 with geographic prefixes: K for the contiguous U.S. (KJFK), Z for China (ZSPD Shanghai Pudong), E for northern Europe (EGLL Heathrow), L for southern Europe (LFPG Paris CDG). Every airport row on this site shows both.

Why do U.S. ICAO codes start with K and Chinese codes with Z?

ICAO allocates first letters by world region: K = contiguous United States, C = Canada, Z = China and Mongolia, E = northern Europe, L = southern Europe, R = Japan/Korea/Philippines, Y = Australia. Within China the second letter marks the CAAC region: ZB north (ZBAA Beijing), ZS east (ZSPD Shanghai Pudong), ZG south (ZGGG Guangzhou), ZU southwest (ZUCK Chongqing), ZW Xinjiang (ZWWW Urumqi). Alaska and Hawaii use P (PANC Anchorage, PHNL Honolulu).

What is the busiest cargo airport in the world?

Hong Kong (HKG) — 5,066,345 tonnes in 2025 (+2.7%, ACI World). Shanghai Pudong (PVG) is second with 4.09 Mt (+8.3%), Anchorage (ANC) third with 3.85 Mt as the trans-Pacific refuelling hub, Louisville (SDF, UPS Worldport) fourth and Miami (MIA) fifth. Global air cargo reached 131 million tonnes in 2025, +3.3% year on year.

Can I get an air freight quote for any listed airport?

Yes. Open any country's airport list (click a country name in the tables) and use the built-in quote tools — Ecer Freight provides air freight, FCL/LCL ocean freight and rail quotes from major origins. Searching an airport code on this site returns the same quote entry. You can also reach the team directly through the inquiries page.

How often is this data updated?

The airports database is reviewed quarterly and this page is refreshed whenever a new authoritative edition is released (ACI World traffic dataset, CAAC bulletins, OAG counts). Last update: October 22, 2026.

About this data. Compiled and maintained by the Ecer Freight Logistics Research Team, practising international freight forwarders handling air freight, FCL and LCL ocean shipments and rail cargo worldwide. Airport counts, codes and statistics on this page are cross-checked against the authoritative sources listed above and reviewed quarterly; the database was last verified on October 22, 2026.

Spotted an error or a missing airport? Use the search box above or contact Ecer Freight through the site contact page — corrections are typically published within one review cycle.

Ecer Freight · Airport Codes (IATA & ICAO) & World Airport Statistics · Data reviewed quarterly · Last updated October 22, 2026