The most Instagrammed airport in the country isn’t what you think

There’s something about airports that inspires those “I’m going on a trip!” or “I’m home!” photographs.

Whether it’s Portland International Airport’s (PDX) geometric carpet or the 130-foot indoor waterfall known as the Jewel of Singapore’s Changi Airport (SIN), some airport features have become iconic enough to be written in their own right . The latter is so striking that many travelers have been known to purposely extend or even book a layover in Singapore just to capture images of the water trickling down the middle of the airport garden.

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A new survey by adventure travel site Miss Tourism looked at the number of hashtags for each airport posted on social media platform Instagram (THE TARGET) ; Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) topped all others in the US and globally with 3,393,690 hashtags.

LAX, SFO and KUL: These are the most photographed airports in the world

Popular photos at LAX include everything from generic ticket and passport hand shots that many take before a trip, to shots of the themed building in the center of the airport’s passenger terminal area and the In-N-Out restaurant of on Runway 24R which many avid plane spotters use to watch flights take off.

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Another California airport – San Francisco International Airport (SFO) – landed in second place, but with 1,047,624 hashtags it was well below LAX. The two California airports were the only two to exceed one million. London Heathrow Airport (LHR) took third place with 762,904 hashtags, while Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) took fourth place with 600,336. The latter is home to the famous Jungle Boardwalk that connects the airport terminals with a walkway surrounded by flora and fauna.

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Singapore Changi Airport is a popular stopover for travelers.

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“Transformed from simple transit points to gateways to adventure”

Singapore’s Changi Airport, topping the ‘world’s best airports’ lists for its stunning design, rounded out the top five with 581,993 hashtags. No other US airport topped the list of most hashtagged on Instagram, but the list also included Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS), Dubai International Airport (DXB) and Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) – the latter of which is smaller airport closer to the city center than the main Narita International Airport (NRT).

The last airport to make the list is London Gatwick Airport (LGW) with 257,730 hashtags; the smaller London airport is currently undergoing a £10 million (about $13 million) renovation and expansion.

The airports that made the top ten didn’t necessarily do so because of their aesthetics or facilities, as almost all of them are major hubs for their countries and continents and therefore see very high numbers of traffic.

LAX recorded 75,050,875 passengers in 2023, while Dubai was the second busiest in the world after Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL) – an airport that travelers often rate as “stressful” due to its sprawling terminals connected only by an aerial train. ATL did not make this list of the most tagged hashes.

“Airports have transformed from mere transit points to gateways to adventure and unique experiences,” Miss Tourist founder Yulia Saf said in a statement. “With the rise of social media, travelers are increasingly keen to document and share their journeys from the moment they arrive at the airport.”

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