Istanbul overtakes Heathrow as Europe's busiest airport

Heathrow has been knocked off the top spot as Europe's busiest airport, with new figures showing Istanbul now holds the title. In July, 7.86 million passengers passed through Heathrow's four terminals, while Istanbul recorded 8.15 million.

The shift comes as Middle East routes at Heathrow dropped 20.2% compared to the same month last year, a decline linked to the US-Israel conflict with Iran.

According to data from Airports Council International, Heathrow was Europe's busiest airport every year from 1996 to 2019. It lost the title in 2020 during coronavirus travel restrictions, regained it in 2023, and had held it since.

Heathrow continues to run its two runways near full capacity and is pushing for government approval to build a third. The owners' expansion plan would allow the airport to handle 150 million passengers a year. Heathrow said "the case for expansion has never been clearer," adding that the project would give the country the infrastructure needed to stay competitive and drive economic growth.

The airport saw 84.46 million passengers in 2025, and 19 July was its busiest day so far this year, with 267,000 travellers passing through as schools broke up for summer. Heathrow also noted several new airlines started serving the airport last month, which it said shows "clear demand for access to Heathrow."

Last month, it was revealed that Heathrow will be allowed to increase charges on airlines to recover money spent on early stages of the third runway project.