America has more airports than any other country on Earth. In fact, it’s not even close. According to United States government data, America has 16,116 airports or airfields recognizable from the air, accounting for 34.1% of the global total. Second place Brazil has 5,297, and Australia in third has 2,257. But America’s over-16,000 aren’t spread evenly across the continent-spanning landmass. The smaller states in the Northeast have only a smattering of commercial airports between them, while in the likes of New Mexico and Arkansas, air travel is inaccessible for around half of the states’ rural populations.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the states with the most space tend to have the most airports. Alaska is the largest by area, but being America’s least visited state, an overabundance of airports could be deemed superfluous. California has the most people, with a population of nearly 40 million, and has the distinction of hosting both America’s coolest airport and the country’s best airport for stress-free travel, but it still doesn’t top the list. For the state with the most airports, you have to head to the deep, sprawling South and into America’s Lone Star country.
Texas has by far the largest number of airports in America. With 1,494 airports total, it has almost as many as Alaska (second), Florida (third), and California (fourth) combined. It’s America’s second-largest state, has the second-largest population, and is known as a state of excess. So this accolade shouldn’t come as a surprise.
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Why are there so many airports in Texas?
Private aircraft at sunset – Cghappel/Getty Images
Lots of space and vast plains in Texas necessitates more regions that can accommodate air travel. The state also has a significant military presence, with more than 100,000 active duty personnel, requiring bases and aircraft, as well as oil, gas, agriculture, and freight industries that use busy cargo airports to facilitate the movement of goods. Texas also ranks as the state with the most registered aircraft, the most privately owned aircraft, and the most corporate-owned aircraft. If you’ve got a lot of people and businesses flying their own planes, naturally you’ll need a lot of landing strips and airfields to cater to them.
This being America’s bigger-equals-better state, Texas has some huge airports as well as hundreds of small ones. Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) fly millions of passengers annually, and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) has ballooned into one of the largest in the world. In fact, the Dallas airport sees the third-most passengers of any airport in the world. With five terminals, seven runways, multiple air-traffic control towers, and over 170 gates, it spans more than 26 square miles of Texan real estate — making it bigger than Manhattan — and is the home base of American Airlines.
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Read the original article on Islands.
