The Best (and Worst) Airports for Connecting Flights

Your travel agent always builds in additional transfer time, giving you time to get your bags, go through customs, change terminals, pass through additional security, navigate vast airports and find your gate. However, there are always scenarios we can’t control. The most challenging airports to arrange a transfer are typically the largest and busiest. Here’s the five airports that often put your connecting flight at risk:

Worst

ATL: Atlanta’s Hartsfield is the world’s busiest airport. Any airport dealing with such a large volume experiences frequent delays and persistently crowded concourses.

ORD: Chicago’s O’Hare used to be the nation’s busiest until 2005, when the government stepped in to reduce the total number of flights to decrease delays. Unfortunately, O'Hare still accounts for more than a sixth of the nation's total flight cancellations.

LHR: For 7 straight years, London’s Heathrow has seen the largest number of passengers connecting to another airline who may need to change terminals and go through immigration twice.

HND: Tokyo’s Haneda Airport is one of the world's busiest domestic-only airports. The predominantly Japanese signage can make it a challenge to navigate.

JFK: With nine terminals, chances are you will need to board a bus or catch the light-rail train to transfer from one gate to another.

Best

The top-rated airports where it's easiest to connect: Denver (DEN); Detroit (DTW); Munich (MUC); Amsterdam (AMS); Singapore (SIN).