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Mapping Airways: The World’s Flight Paths and Airports

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Map of the world's flight paths and busiest air routes

Mapping Airways: World’s Flight Paths and Airports

There are up to 8,755 commercial flights in the air at any given time of day. These flights transport thousands of people (and millions of dollars worth of goods) around the world.

But where are these people and goods headed? This map from Adam Symington uses historical data from OpenFlights to visualize the world’s flight paths.

The graphic shows a comprehensive data set encompassing 67,663 different routes that connect 10,000 different airports across the globe.

A Note On the Data

The map uses an OpenFlights database provided by the third-party source that hasn’t been updated since June 2014.

Because of this, the data used for the graphic is of historical value only. However, this detailed map sparked our curiosity and got us wondering—what are some of the busiest aviation hubs around the world right now?

We did some digging, and here’s what we found.

Busiest Airports by Passengers

There are several ways to gauge an airport’s popularity. One way is to measure total passenger traffic throughout the year.

According to Airports Council International (ACI), eight of the top 10 busiest airports for passenger traffic in 2021 were in America. Here’s a look at the top 10 list, as of April 11, 2022:

RankAirportCountryPassenger Traffic (2021)
1Atlanta GA (ATL)🇺🇸 US75,704,760
2Dallas/Fort Worth TX (DFW)🇺🇸 US62,465,756
3Denver CO (DEN)🇺🇸 US58,828,552
4Chicago IL (ORD)🇺🇸 US54,020,399
5Los Angeles CA (LAX)🇺🇸 US48,007,284
6Charlotte NC (CLT)🇺🇸 US43,302,230
7Orlando FL (MCO)🇺🇸 US40,351,068
8Guangzhou (CAN)🇨🇳​ China40,259,401
9Chengdu (CTU)🇨🇳​ China40,117,496
10Las Vegas NV (LAS)🇺🇸 US39,754,366

In 2021, the airport with the most passenger traffic was Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. It accommodated more than 75 million passengers last year—a 76.4% increase compared to 2020 figures.

Hartsfield-Jackson is well-known for being one of the busiest airports in the world. One reason for this is its convenient location—according to the airport’s official website, Atlanta is within a two-hour flight from 80% of the U.S. population.

Dallas/Forth Worth (DFW) came in second place, seeing 62.5 million passengers throughout 2021. DFW was one of the only airports to boost its service offerings throughout the pandemic, and is also the main hub for American Airlines, the world’s largest airline by fleet size.

Busiest Airports by Cargo

While the U.S. dominates the ranking when it comes to passenger traffic, the list is much more diverse when looking at air cargo volumes. Here’s a look at the ranking, based on loaded and unloaded freight and mail (including transit freight):

RankAirportCountryCargo Traffic (Metric Tonnes, 2021)
1Hong Kong SAR (HKG)🇭🇰​ Hong Kong5,025,495
2Memphis TN (MEM)🇺🇸 US4,480,465
3Shanghai (PVG)🇨🇳​ China3,982,616
4Anchorage AK (ANC)🇺🇸 US3,555,160
5Incheon (ICN)🇰🇷​ South Korea3,329,292
6Louisville KY (SDF)🇺🇸 US3,052,269
7Taipei (TPE)🇹🇼​ Taiwan2,812,065
8Los Angeles CA (LAX)🇺🇸 US2,691,830
9Tokyo (NRT)​🇯🇵​ Japan2,644,074
10Doha (DOH)🇶🇦​ Qatar2,620,095

Hong Kong (HKG) takes the top spot since the airport processed more than 5.0 million metric tonnes of freight and mail throughout 2021.

Hong Kong has been known as one of the busiest air cargo hubs for over a decade and is able to maintain this reputation because of its strategic location, impressive infrastructure, efficient customs, and business-friendly trade regulations.

The COVID-19 Impact on Aviation

The global pandemic hit the aviation industry hard. At its lowest point, international travel was down 98% from normal levels.

While the aviation industry is starting to recover from its COVID-induced slump, things still haven’t fully bounced back yet, especially in places like Shanghai, where lockdowns are still being mandated.

But experts remain hopeful for the future. According to ACI World’s General Director Luis Felipe de Oliveira, last year’s recovery was just the beginning.

“With many countries taking steps towards the return of a certain normality, lifting almost all the health measures and travel restrictions as supported by science, we welcome the continuation of air travel demand’s recovery in 2022.”
-Luis Felipe de Oliveira, ACI World’s Director General

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This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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Money

Mapped: Minimum Wage Around the World

This infographic shows the net minimum wage across 67 countries, as of January 2023. A breakdown by U.S. state is also included.

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Mapped: Minimum Wage Around the World

The purpose of a minimum wage is to establish a baseline income level for workers in a given jurisdiction. Ideally it’s enough to cover basic needs like food and housing, but this isn’t always a guarantee.

To see how the minimum wage differs around the world, we’ve visualized data from Picodi, which includes values for 67 countries as of January 2023.

Monthly Minimum Wage, by Country

The following table includes all of the data used in this infographic.

Each value represents the monthly minimum wage a full-time worker would receive in each country. Picodi states that these figures are net of taxes and have been converted to USD.

CountryIncrease compared to Jan 2022Minimum wage as of Jan 2023 (full-time, USD)
Cyprus104.5%$854
Argentina100.0%$336
Turkey32.5%$457
Moldova27.1%$180
Latvia25.8%$555
Malaysia24.6%$289
Pakistan24.5%$111
Romania21.9%$393
Germany21.2%$1,594
Belarus18.8%$189
Lithuania18.5%$646
North Macedonia17.4%$298
Mexico17.1%$315
Chile16.9%$369
Russia16.6%$224
Kazakhstan16.4%$131
Colombia16.0%$249
Hungary15.3%$383
Netherlands14.6%$1,895
Poland14.3%$584
Belgium14.3%$1,509
Serbia14.2%$347
Estonia14.2%$704
Azerbaijan13.3%$186
Albania12.9%$265
Slovenia12.6%$896
US12.0%$1,550
Croatia11.9%$571
Uzbekistan11.4%$72
Paraguay11.4%$323
Armenia10.3%$138
Peru10.0%$233
Bosnia and Herzegovina9.9%$324
Bulgaria9.3%$315
Luxembourg9.2%$2,140
Philippines9.0%$141
Uruguay8.9%$424
Brazil8.5%$232
India8.1%$95
Indonesia7.9%$173
Greece7.8%$626
Portugal7.3%$690
UK7.2%$1,705
Slovakia6.9%$572
South Africa6.6%$226
France6.6%$1,380
Czechia6.0%$643
Vietnam5.7%$162
Ecuador5.6%$407
New Zealand5.4%$1,866
Ireland5.1%$1,753
Canada5.0%$1,545
Thailand4.8%$195
Australia4.7%$2,022
South Korea4.6%$1,333
Taiwan4.0%$800
Bolivia3.9%$284
Guatemala3.6%$383
Malta3.1%$788
Ukraine0.0%$146
Israel0.0%$1,389
Puerto Rico0.0%$1,328
Hong Kong0.0%$959
Saudi Arabia0.0%$958
Spain0.0%$925
Montenegro0.0%$459
Nigeria0.0%$68

Generally speaking, developed countries have a higher cost of living, and thus require a higher minimum wage.

Two outliers in this dataset are Argentina and Turkey, which have increased their minimum wages by 100% or more from January 2022 levels.

Turkey is suffering from an ongoing currency crisis, with the lira losing over 40% of its value in 2021. Prices of basic goods have increased considerably as the Turkish lira continues to plummet. In fact, a 2022 survey found that 70% of people in Turkey were struggling to pay for food.

Argentina, South America’s second-biggest economy, is also suffering from very high inflation. In response, the country announced three minimum wage increases throughout 2022.

Minimum Wage in the U.S.

Within the U.S., minimum wage varies significantly by state. We’ve visualized each state’s basic minimum rate (hourly) using January 2023 data from the U.S. Department of Labor.

US minimum wage

2023-03-17 Update: This map was updated to fix several incorrect values. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

America’s federal minimum wage has remained unchanged since 2009 at $7.25 per hour.

Each state is allowed to set their own minimum wage, as long as it’s higher than the federal minimum. In states that do not set their own minimum, the federal minimum applies.

If we assume someone works 40 hours a week, the federal minimum wage of $7.25 translates to an annual figure of just $15,080 before taxes. California’s minimum wage of $15.50 translates to $32,240 before taxes.

For further perspective, check out our 2022 infographic on the salary needed to buy a home across 50 U.S. cities.

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