The Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport comes in at second place with 61.6 million passengers per year, with third and fourth very close between Hong Kong International Airport and Dubai International Airport. ; According to Dubai Airports chief executive officer Paul Griffiths, Dubai experienced 13.2 percent growth in passenger traffic in 2012, with 58 million annual passengers firmly giving it third position. ; “Moving into the top three is a fantastic achievement for Dubai International and we now have London’s Heathrow and the number one spot firmly within our sights,” Griffiths said in a media release.
In general, air traffic is slowly moving towards the east, with Asian airports growing faster than those in the west. ; Turkey is the ideal global middle ground in many ways, with the country recently launching a tender for the world's largest airport build in Istanbul. ; At an estimated cost of $9bn, this six runway project is designed to accommodate 150 million passengers per year, and when complete will eclipse both Atlanta and London in terms of passenger numbers. ;
Other new markets are opening up away from the traditional nodes, with Sou [...]