King Fahd International Airport in Saudi Arabia covers 776 km², more than three times the 225 km² of Riyadh's King Khalid International, the second-largest airport by area.
Updated October 18, 202610 ranked11 sources
Quick answer
King Fahd International Airport (DMM) near Dammam, Saudi Arabia, is the largest airport in the world by area, at 776 km², most of it undeveloped. King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh is second at 225 km² and Denver International Airport third at 135.7 km². The ranking uses total land area inside each airport's boundary, from operator or FAA figures, as of October 2026.
Airport size here means the total land inside the airport's boundary, including land held for future expansion, not terminal floor space or passenger numbers. Three of the ten largest are in Saudi Arabia, led by King Fahd International near Dammam at 776 km², a figure that is mostly undeveloped desert. The United States has four, led by Denver.
Size and traffic are different things. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, the world's busiest airport by passengers, is not in this top ten.
Total area (km²)
Total area (km²)
King Fahd International Airport (DMM)
776 km²
King Khalid International Airport (RUH)
225 km²
Denver International Airport (DEN)
135.7 km²
King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED)
112 km²
Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL)
100 km²
Istanbul Airport (IST)
76 km²
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
69.6 km²
Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
52.6 km²
Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX)
47 km²
Orlando International Airport (MCO)
47 km²
The ranking
1
King Fahd International Airport (DMM)
King Fahd International Airport near Dammam is the world's largest airport by area, at 77,600 hectares (776 km²) according to the airport's own land figures; Guinness World Records gives about 780 km². Only 4,265 hectares are developed. Its basic infrastructure was finished in 1990 and used by US-led coalition forces in the 1991 Gulf War; commercial flights began on 28 November 1999.
Location: Dammam, Saudi ArabiaIATA code: DMMOpened: 1999Area as reported: 77,600 ha (airport authority)
2
King Khalid International Airport (RUH)
Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, opened in 1983, covers about 225 km² according to its operator, Riyadh Airports. Some other sources quote 375 km²; this list uses the operator's figure.
Location: Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaIATA code: RUHOpened: 1983Area as reported: 225 km² (Riyadh Airports)
3
Denver International Airport (DEN)
Denver International Airport covers 33,531 acres (135.7 km²) per the FAA, the largest airport site in the United States. It opened in 1995 to replace Stapleton, and the airport says Chicago O'Hare, Atlanta and Los Angeles International would all fit on its land with almost 500 acres to spare.
King Abdulaziz International Airport, 19 km north of Jeddah, covers 112 km². Opened in 1981, it is the main air gateway for pilgrims travelling to Mecca.
Location: Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaIATA code: JEDOpened: 1981Area as reported: 112 km²
5
Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL)
Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang occupies a 100 km² site. It opened in 1998 and was designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa.
Location: Sepang, MalaysiaIATA code: KULOpened: 1998Area as reported: 100 km²
6
Istanbul Airport (IST)
Istanbul Airport was built on a 7,600-hectare (76 km²) site near Lake Terkos on the Black Sea side of Istanbul, much of it former state forest. It opened in 2018 and took over Atatürk Airport's scheduled passenger flights in 2019.
Location: Istanbul, TurkeyIATA code: ISTOpened: 2018Area as reported: 7,600 ha
7
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport owns 17,207 acres (69.6 km²) per the FAA. It opened in 1974 and is American Airlines' largest hub.
Washington Dulles International Airport occupies 13,000 acres (52.6 km²) per the FAA. It opened in 1962, and its main terminal was designed by Eero Saarinen.
Beijing Daxing International Airport, opened in 2019 with a terminal designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, is described as sitting on 47 km² of land. The same Wikipedia article also gives 2,679 hectares (26.8 km²), so this placing is less certain than the others.
Location: Beijing, ChinaIATA code: PKXOpened: 2019Area as reported: 47 km² (also given as 2,679 ha)
10
Orlando International Airport (MCO)
Orlando International Airport covers 11,605 acres (47.0 km²), a larger footprint than New York's JFK. Airline service at the former McCoy Air Force Base site, then called Orlando Jetport, began in 1961.
Airports are ranked by total land area in km². There is no single official register of airport land area, so each figure is the one stated by the airport's operator or, for US airports, the FAA airport master record (Form 5010), as given on the airport's Wikipedia article; acres and hectares are converted at 1 acre = 0.0040469 km² and 1 ha = 0.01 km². King Khalid's 225 km² is the operator's figure (other sources say 375 km²; either way it ranks second). Beijing Daxing's Wikipedia article gives both 47 km² and 2,679 ha; the larger figure is used, and Daxing would drop out of the top ten on the smaller one. Opening year is the year commercial service began, per each airport's article.
FAQ
What is the largest airport in the world by area?
King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, at 77,600 hectares (776 km²). Most of that land is undeveloped; only about 4,265 hectares are developed. Riyadh's King Khalid International is second at about 225 km² and Denver International is third at 135.7 km².
Is King Fahd International Airport bigger than Bahrain?
No, though it is close. Bahrain's land area is 786.8 km², slightly more than the airport's 776 km² (or Guinness World Records' 780 km²). Older figures put Bahrain at 765 km², which is where the 'bigger than Bahrain' claim comes from.
Does size equal passenger volume?
No. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, the world's busiest airport by passengers, is not in the top ten by area, while King Fahd, the largest by area, handles far fewer passengers than the major hubs.
How is airport area measured?
As the land inside the airport's official boundary: runways, terminals, cargo and maintenance areas, and land held for future use. Operators define their boundaries differently, so figures from different sources can disagree, as they do for King Khalid and Beijing Daxing.
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