Which International Airports Have The Most Runways?

[@91Durktheturk]

Used Amsterdam Schiphol Airport dozens of time. Always a pleasant airport, but landing or departing from the Polderbaan does mean long taxi times.

[@0ptera]

For some flights taxi may take longer than the flight time. ;)

[@ajs11201]

@@0ptera I think I landed on that runway when I was there. I wondered if the pilot was driving us to our hotel!

[@maxvandenberg955]

Yes

[@marijntimmer5818]

Yep but that one is located so far away to reduce noise pollution in amsterdam ;-)

[@marijntimmer5818]

Is indeed annoying but there was no other option ;-)

[@Exotic4M3]

Honey, wake up. Simple Flying just uploaded.

[@propman3523]

I lived 1 mile from the end of one of O'Hare's main runways in 1974 for 6 months. It was a plane spotters dream come true. It was great to go out to the Hyatt 7 Continents Restaurant, have a few cocktails, as it rotated 360 degrees for a panoramic view of arrivals and departures. It was the world's busiest then and long before the additional runways. My apt. building was remarkably soundproof. My best memory was standing outside my building watching the daily KLM 747 rise majestically over my building and wish I was on it. Forty years later I was!

[@TripleZ89]

I watch triple simultaneous landings at ORD all the time. Love it.

[@ohareplanespotting]

Same here

[@Freeborn88]

once they complete the overhaul of runway 27L/9R, they can do quadruple simultaneous approaches in theory landing on the 9s and 10s. i'm not sure it would work landing on the 27s and 28s.

[@ecclestonsangel]

I've been to DTW numerous times. It's a very nice airport, and the employees are incredibly polite and helpful. I like the indoor train; it's really cool!

[@ecclestonsangel]

@Perry Griffith I usually do too, because Delta has two or three terminals, and they're spread out!

[@mathuringarcier]

I've been to AMS and that's one of the best I have ever been, however my experience in ORD was bad!

[@XLRSAv]

Not surprised. Though O’Hare is huge, the customer experience is a discouraging 4/10 in my books

[@torquetography2758]

Spotting at ORD is definitely fun though!

[@jackeldridge1319]

Can confirm that Schipol group are indeed very very competent at running airports. My local airport HBA is run by Schipol group and the quality of service is excellent there, even though the airport itself is very small

[@ajs11201]

I've flown through most airports in the U.S., and I guess I'm the odd person out. I don't mind ORD at all, but I dislike ATL and avoid it whenever possible.

[@jrs89]

ORD can have some really long taxis. I flew in on a CRJ-900 on a far away runway and the gate was in Terminal 2. The taxi felt like a tour of the entire airport.

[@XLRSAv]

O’Hare (ORD) International is my home hub and though it is enjoyable to spot at, it is very frustrating because an aircraft you wish to see takes another runway and the customer experience is decently bad as well as the fact that Terminal 1 is reaching 40 years of age.

[@ohareplanespotting]

I agree! Countless times, I’ve seen an aircraft take off from or land at another runway and I don’t have the chance to film it.

[@only1mere123]

Same it also my hub is ORD

[@riskinhos]

first world problems.

[@milojones9241]

For some reason the chaotic nature of ORD, especially in past years with intersecting runways is really satisfying to me.

[@jtwilliams8895]

Having grown up near ORD and all it’s runways, I’m always been surprised to see other international hubs with only a couple runways, like LHR. It’s always been cool heading down I-294 by OHare and watching three aircraft landing simultaneously from the East over the highway.

[@julianoxford1165]

I've flown into Amsterdam Airport in 2018 as stopover flying from Dresden to London and back on KLM. Both AMS arrivals took place on the Polderbaan, and I can well remember the time it took for our plane just to get to the terminal to be much longer than at the smaller LCY & DRS airports which both only have one runway close to the terminal.

[@dattaxpony920]

I've had the simultaneous landings at DFW before. It almost becomes a race on who touches down first!!

[@zork999]

I almost had a real “simultaneous landing” at DFW one time. We were on final approach, just about to touch down when the pilot gunned it and did a very steep climb. About a minute later a somewhat still shaky sounding captain came on the intercom and apologized for the maneuvers but the controllers had cleared another aircraft onto the runway that we were just about to set down on and having two aircraft use the same space did not sound like a good idea to him.

[@dattaxpony920]

@@zork999 I had a go-around once landing in PDX. We were about 1500 feet up when the pilot GUNNED it and we were all thrown back in our seats! Turns out a general aviation plane was on our runway that wasn't supposed to be. We landed safely about 15 minutes later.

[@mingming9604]

been to all of them myself ;) Denver has the longest runway for commercial airport in US at 16,000ft!

[@Chris_at_Home]

That’s because the density altitude is very high there on a hot summer day.

[@raptors222222]

@@Chris_at_Home low density air makes for longer takeoffs, but yeah

[@alfrredd]

meters?

[@Chris_at_Home]

@@raptors222222 I used to fly in and out of a place where is was about 20 feet about sea level and the temperatures would drop to below 40 below. The jet would leap into the air as the wind always blew right down the runway. Years ago it was done on gravel.

[@Chris_at_Home]

@@raptors222222 in aviation it is called density altitude. There are graphs for this.

[@MerkyAviation11]

Been to AMS, especially landing at it's famous runway Polderbaan. Airport was 10/10 with so many diverse planes and mostly KLM both departing and arriving there!

[@SteveBryanFL]

I have been to all airports mentioned multiple times. ORD was my home airport for several years.

[@jmonsted]

I've flown through AMS many times, often getting the long taxi trip over the bridge. It's pretty bizarre.

[@royeb63]

If you're landing from the South on that runway, you have to backtrack on the runway first before you get on the taxiway. Been there several times. It's about a 15 minutes taxi to the terminal from the North end of that runway. :O)

[@acciid]

Yeah it's a pain.

[@daleburrer1546]

I have been to ORD and DFW. American Airlines has its mega hub at DFW and hub at ORD. Very lengthy lines of planes waiting to takeoff at both airports.

[@garret2560]

My first job was at DFW. I think about that place most days. loved going down to the ramp and watch the 777s come in. Hated being anywhere near a 757 with the engines running. I’m pretty sure the 757s are the primary cause of my tinnitus.

[@jimmeade2976]

I've been to all of these airports. Had an interesting experience during landing at Chicago ORD several years ago. My plane was landing and I looked out the right side window to see another plane landing on an intersecting runway. I was listening to ATC on United's Channel 9 at the time, and heard the controller shout to the other plane to stop short of our runway. It didn't and our plane did do hard braking and a high-speed turnoff just before the other runway. As we turned to the left, I looked out the window and saw the other plane stop in the middle of our runway. I then heard the other pilot apologize for landing long, and was chastised by the controller.

[@joeboogert7055]

As a person living near Amsterdam, it was sometimes too quiet the last year and a half. I'm glad that air traffic is now starting up again, since I really missed the aircraft :)

[@maxvandenberg955]

Ah at least you are not one making current headlines.

[@francescoboselli6033]

Personally I've never been in one of those. The greatest airport that I visited was Madrid Barajas

[@JanPieterGerritsen]

AMS, one of the captains on a flight to Heathrow was telling us the route over the PA, he was using all highway marks as when you use the Polderbaan you are taxing much longer then you are in the air.

[@bladerunner27x]

The reason for all those runways that was not mentioned is, Air cargo, FedEx metroplex, UPS, and all of the international cargo coming in and out, requires separate runways.

[@thesledgehammerblog]

I've been through ORD and DFW several times, as well as ATL with its five runways (always thought it had more than that with all the traffic that goes through there...). Also frequently travel through SFO and LAX with four runways each.

[@lunchmeatkingpin2567]

I've been to all of the Airports mentioned in America and they all are unique in their own way. Detroit definitely has the best terminal

[@aadityasuratkar5973]

I've been to, from and through AMS several times, still one of the most seamless airports ever.

[@markiangooley]

I figured that ORD would win. Used to go there occasionally as a child living in Illinois in the 1960s and 1970s, haven’t been there since 2017. It’s changed a great deal in that time: some of the older parts of the terminal are now a shopping mall, pretty much.

[@maartenkruijff4293]

That is why I love my home airport of AMS! Never any in air queuing! Compare that to Heathrow with its 2 runways and where you always have to circle 3-4 times before landing🤣

[@jeremymurphy7320]

I've flown into DFW and DTW several times and I really like both facilities. I've used DEN once and have avoided ORD like the plague so far.

[@Latvian_spotter]

I have been to AMS and we have taken of from the runway wich is before that runway who is 5km away from terminals and it was a very great expierence there to drive over the highway.

[@jrs89]

Flown through ORD, DFW, DEN, DTW, and AMS. I love DTW and AMS.

[@robertpartington1383]

Been to ORD, AMS & DFW. All very smooth and efficient airports. Been to JFK too with fewer runways but a complete nightmare to use. If I fly to New York I use EWR by choice if possible.

[@hughofIreland]

It would be interesting to look at airports with the fewest runways per arrival/departure. In the UK, for example, I think it’s amazing what’s accomplished at LHR (2) and LGW; MUC is impressive too.

[@thefurbeastunderyourbed5012]

MUC has been trying to expand for many years now but the plans for a third runway have just recently come to an indefinite halt once again because of the political debate. If ever, this is not going to happen any sooner than the 2030s.

[@aj031890]

LGW is the busiest single-runway airport in the world, and San Diego is the busiest in the US

[@lzh4950]

Meanwhile I imagine that HKG, SIN & CGK have among the world's highest no. of passengers per runway

[@ferriansalvador4302]

I've been to O'hare and it's so mesmerizing. And if you're somewhere downtown or somewhere in Lincolnwood area in Chicago, almost every 10 seconds you'll see 2 or 3 airplanes on final approach

[@joostnouwen9623]

Not only the Polderbaan is from a reclaimed body of land, the whole of Schiphol is! It used to be a big lake called Haarlemmermeer.

[@kingsleydawes7244]

I have landed on Polderbann runway before. Short flight from LCY took about 45 minutes, then it was 25 minutes before we got to the gate!!!

[@dpm-jt8rj]

I have been to both ORD and DFW (plus many others in the Americas). ORD is still refiguring their runways and I think the goal is to have six runways all parallel (east/west). They are still working on and finishing the E/W runways on the northside of the complex, part of their modernization program. DFW has the best laid out configuration of runways and taxiways of the airports I have flown into and out of over the past several years.

[@trainssavage2841]

I have been to Toronto Pearson, which has an impressive 5 runways, with another in planning.

[@aayushsabat0954]

I love Simple Flying! Keep up the good work and can someone please provide the link to the Webinar you hosted with Tim Clarke Emirates CEO

[@kunjappanmenon1913]

Fantastic video ( and information!)

[@geoffreyhui830]

In September 1969 I arrived in ORD from SFO on a 747 and connected to a United 737. I boarded on a jetway and at at SBN I had to walk to the terminal. In May 1993 I connected in ORD from LAX onto a United flight carried out by Air Wisconsin. I had to walk out to the aircraft, and it was propeller driven. On arrival at SBN there was a jetway, so I didn't need to walk across the tarmac. Those 2 experiences were a great contrast.

[@rubenvandenberg1422]

I live litterely next to Amsterdam Schiphol airport and my dad is a farmer on the fields next to the polderbaan so as a kid i always went with him to watch all the planes take off and it are one of my happiest childhood memories!

[@XBLMastrodicasa]

I had a connecting flight through ORD and was lucky enough to get a tour of the tower at DFW.

[@mharrye]

Been to all of them many times. Polderbaan is always interesting watching all of the people lining the fence watching - ME! At least I think that's what they are doing so if I have a window seat facing the fence, I always wave.

[@flyerman34]

Your taxi diagram of ORD actually does include 9C/27C. The difference is that they declassified 9R/27L so they don't have to clear every single plane to cross while its closed for construction.

[@shsav2012]

Been to Ohare as a connecting passinger in 2018 and as recently as January 2022 I used it as my origin and destination airport for a trip to Seattle.

[@erich930]

I've been through KORD and KDTW multiple times, as well as KIAD which has 4 runways.

[@davebyrne8100]

Departed from RWY 18C KMEM in an MD11-30F, on 18L was a 727-200F and on 18R an A310F all rolling down the rwy moments apart.

[@JuanWayTrips]

Tom Scott has a cool video about some of the artificial hills built around the AMS Polderbaan runaway to reduce noise for take off and landing.

[@Tarodenaro]

Schipol AMS is very comfy, the Dutch did amazing job managing that Airport.

[@osasunaitor]

The Dutch are great at managing things in general

[@thomfoster1825]

Have arrived and departed from all. Wasn’t aware of Chicago having 3 towers. Thanks for the information.

[@moon-cf2vw]

Awesome video!! but you did Detroit dirty🤣

[@SwordQuake2]

Make a video on which airports have farthest runways from terminal building. Is Polderbaan the winner?

[@alexthegreat5009]

Most underrated channel

[@groovefam]

Been to O'Hare and Dallas FW. Amazing and vast

[@mak2118]

Last year I was in AMS and in 2016 I was in ORD both was good and I was have great experience it both international terminal and domestic terminals.

[@pradhyumnakumarpillamari393]

All of them..!!!! And I must say taxing at ORD is a separate journey in itself.

[@LucaStabielGeaft]

Yes, i am like every week on the polderbaan for spotting!

[@jeffgravel5220]

Been through Denver multiple times!

[@3mmdm32]

ATL is one of the best for volume even though there are only 5. All are parallel. The ability to bringem in and getum out is phenomenal.

[@BabyBang17datruth]

I agree. ATL uses their runways more efficiently. There are plans to build a 6th parallel runway north of the current 5th runway.

[@3mmdm32]

@@BabyBang17datruth they would have to buy all of East Point or College Park to the north or North Clayton County to the South to do so.

[@jjs709]

@@3mmdm32 he mean north of 10/28. It’s going in between existing runways, demolishing some cargo handling facilities and parking lots in the way.

[@3mmdm32]

@@jjs709 oddly, I wish they would run another terminal down through that area and purchase East Point for the new runway. ATL is doing to need more gates and I mean manny more gates in the next 20 years. The terminal could be where the old GWWC was and be focused on non Delta carriers. Run a high speed train underneath the current runways to connect be the two and no one could crowd out another.

[@jjs709]

@@3mmdm32 have you by chance seen the master plan they released? Just curious because if not I’d recommend looking it up. They intend to actually expand through the existing delta maintenance facility, creating terminal G and possibly H further east from F, allowing E to return to service as 100% domestic and, if needed, F to convert to domestic or domestic/international service. This plan I believe has been put on hold because at the moment the need for additional gates has been deemed not large enough to warrant the costs, but the plans have been drawn up if needed in the future.

[@jimaperkins]

Thank you for publishing this. For those who have heard the old urban legend that says, "our airspace is overcrowded", I hope this video makes it clear that the actual problem is the airline industry needs more runways, not airspace. We all have PLEANTY of airspace. If there aren't enough runways for the planes to take off and land, then how can the airspace be overcrowded?

[@maxvandenberg955]

It’s possible. Not all runways are meant to be used for both departing and arriving traffic.

[@mityace]

I was last at O'Hare in 1989, some quick research reveals that they had 7 runways at the time in a vastly different configuration. I was at Denver airport in 1998 not long after it opened. It looks it had 5 runways at the time. BTW, on they way to the airport to leave town, I saw at derelict aircraft just off one of the runways of the closed Stapleton airport

[@jamesbaran6418]

I have been to all airports in this video.

[@GeoStreber]

I recently flew from AMS to GRU on a KLM 777-300ER. We started from Polderbaan. Took a while.

[@spanieaj]

I have been to O'Hare a few times. I will be flying into DFW next week for the first time.

[@paulo.3065]

DFW is a great airport as long as you don’t have to change planes. Especially if you’re going international. Allow at least an hour and a half for international travel.

[@GOPGOP-bk2yy]

At DFW you can arrive early but by the time you taxi to your gate you will be 20-30 minutes late! My experience is that no matter what airline I fly to DFW, the plane lands at the furthest point away from our assigned gate.

[@batshevanivylerner8582]

i've landed at all of the mentioned airports many times, but my favorite oddly enough is Detroit's (DTW). Before the pandemic, pretty much every landing i experienced was in tandem with another plane landing simultaneously on the parallel runway. As for long distance taxiing, Schiphol definitely wins the prize. It always seems that you're going to drive to your destination as the plane endlessly taxis out to the runway.,

[@hatillense]

I have been to ORD, it was a loooong ride from the runway to the terminal. I have also been to ATL but that one just have 4 runways.

[@LoboLakerGaming]

Dfw also has 3 towers, although only two are used for arrivals/departures. One of the west and east side. The central tower is a mixed ground control/ops/atc tower.

[@Another_user_43]

I would just like to point out that at ORD, once 27L/09R is extended, Chicago will be capable of quadruple simultaneous arrivals in VFR conditions

[@nurrizadjatmiko21]

Very interesting indeed

[@wynxcer]

The most I've been to is Brussels Airport With 3 Runways

[@karthikp965]

DFW is my home airport.. love it

[@FirstClassFlyer]

Never been more proud to be a Chicagoan ✈️

[@gop4usa12]

I've been to all those airports mentioned. But the one that makes the most sense is Atlanta Hartsfield with it's 5 parallel strips.

[@747boy]

I’m fortunate enough to have operated out of every airport you mentioned. 22 years as a pilot.

[@SimpleFlyingNews]

Wow! That's amazing! Do you have a favorite you can share? - JS

[@theshadowman1398]

Schiphol is my home airport and I worked at companies located at the airport with one that had an epic view of the alsmeerbaan.

[@RaulRodriguez-wr8lq]

Thanks I was thinking Houston IA was big,good inf.

[@gnturibi]

I've been to Schipol numerous times. It's vast!

[@tlabadie289]

Airport with most runways I've been to are Houton Intercontinental, and ATL, with 5 RWYs Behind are Houston Hobby(HOU) and Nashville (BNA) with 4 RWYs After that is Santiago de Chile with 2 And last is Concepción Carriel Sur with 1.

[@connor.b5979]

Ord can actually have quadruple simultaneous landings because a new runway built a couple months ago.

[@imawatermelon1439]

I'm so used to have never been anywhere mentioned in a video I automatically said in my head "No I haven't been to any." Then immediately realized I flew out of DFW to go to Amsterdam, and go to ORD weekly.

[@evolancer211]

I'm flying into DFW this November. Now I'm excited for that layover haha

[@AidenTheAviator]

I live near Toronto Pearson airport (YYZ) which has 5 runways, 3 of which are parallel to each other. But there has never been parallel landings there due to safety concerns.

[@SSaugaCriss]

incorrect: E/W & N/S parallel ops is normal/safe. L&R actives are for dept/arvl.

[@commerce-usa]

Flown O'Hair, DFW, and Denver from your list. DIA replaced Stapleton and was built on land far away from Denver itself in order to get a mammoth land area for current and future runways. Was not originally a fan of DIA, but was proven wrong about it. It truly is a magnificent airport, generating massive amounts of money for Denver and Colorado.

[@worldofgaming6773]

I've been to O'Hair, actually just went spotting there a week ago!

[@stockerXRX]

there's also Atlanta airport (KATL/ATL) and Istanbul airport (LTFM/IST) both have 5 parallel runways

[@wildinride]

Been to ORD, DTW, DEN. DFW Next. ORD is home airport and have also worked there ✌️

[@Calebs_Aviation]

I’ve visited Chicago O’Hare [ORD] and Detroit Metro Airport [DTW] DTW is my most frequent since I live in Detroit! 👍

[@mynintendogamingfeed5208]

Flown to Chicago O'Hare, twice. It's huge in every aspect except it's dwarfed by LAX, ATL, LGA and JFK.

[@mandandi]

Been to Amsterdam Schiphol airport. It took forever to get to the gate after landing. Pleasant airport though.

[@frankchan4272]

I go to ORD often & it is huge, it takes 10-20 minutes to taxi to an terminal on those further runways.

[@mikebarnes2294]

I remember once departing out of Terminal 1 and having to taxi all the way around the entire terminal complex all the way out beyond Terminal 5 (the International terminal) before we could take off.

[@johnboz8087]

IST currently has five. It will have 3 more. 8 runways in total by 2030.

[@nekomi_ch]

Used chicago o'hare once, it is huge

[@magnustan841]

The most of any airport I've been to is Tokyo Haneda and LAX, with 4 each. ORD, DEN and DFW seem to have more runways than they actually need, do they ever alternate between parallel runway usage, such that there is a wear and tear savings on at least one of them? Cause they have at least 3 parallel runways each.

[@technole]

Been to all, love AMS. Great KLM hub and tons to do.

[@danielmaloney128]

I have been to both kord and kdfw. They are impressive

[@rontiemens2553]

Been to all of them!

[@ayecarambapoker]

I used to fly weekly from LGW or LHR to AMS and hated landing on the Polderbaan runway as the taxi to the terminal would often take longer than the actual flight from London

[@AlexandreCuriel]

From this list, only AMS. Great airport!!!

[@zachfleinerswims]

I’ve been to DFW, it’s my home airport!

[@tjr-007tt]

I used OHare about 2 months ago, it seemed like planes were coming in to land from all directions. The runways are very long.

[@Freeborn88]

7500ft is the shortest and 13000ft is the longest and a mix of lengths inbetween

[@zwitserke245]

Been to Amsterdam multiple times, I'm dutch. It's crazy how it can tske like 30 minutes to get from the polderbaan to ur gate sometimes