Which airport has direct flights to the most countries?
While viewing videos from one personal that has been to every country he mentioned that it was easier for him to see new countries because the airport close to him had so many flights to other countries. This made me curious:
Which airport has direct (non-stop) passenger flights to the most other countries and how many?
Although it makes only a difference of one, let's exclude domestic flights for the case where an airport also serves as domestic airport. Flights must be regularly scheduled, although they can be seasonal, and available to book for individual passengers, to exclude chartering an airline and private flights.
Bonus Question: Same but for a group of airports serving a single metropolitan area? Which metropolitan area has airports with direct flights to the most countries? In terms of selecting a home base to visit many countries, this could arguably be a more useful metric.
Best Answer
Istanbul Airport's website claims flights to over 120 countries.
The main airline at that airport, Turkish Airlines, states that it flies to over 120 countries, and Wikipedia states that number as 122. The vast majority of these flights depart from Istanbul airport, although a small number may be "tag" flights and thus not direct as stated in the question. Add in other airlines, and the airport's figure of >120 appears to be valid.
For the "single metropolitan area" part of the question, I suspect the answer is likely also Istanbul. There is one major secondary airport, SAW, however it's unlikely it adds (m)any additional countries to the list.
Pictures about "Which airport has direct flights to the most countries?"
Which airport flies to the most countries?
These are the world's most internationally connected airportsRankAirportCountry1London Heathrow (LHR)United Kingdom2Chicago O'Hare (ORD)USA3Frankfurt Airport (FRA)Germany4Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS)Netherlands16 more rows•Sep 19, 2018Which airlines have the most direct flights?
In terms of network size, American Airlines trumps all other US and international airlines. It offers its passengers flights to some 364 destinations around the world. In its route network are 126 international destinations.HOW TO FIND CHEAP FLIGHTS - My Best Tips After Booking 500+ Flights
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Maarten van den Heuvel, Kelly L, Erik Mclean, Quang Nguyen Vinh