Istanbul Airport has overtaken London Heathrow as Europe’s busiest airport, with passenger traffic surpassing the UK hub in July.
Istanbul handled 8.15 million passengers during the month, compared with 7.86 million at Heathrow, according to the latest figures.
The shift comes as Heathrow grapples with softer traffic on Middle East routes, with passenger numbers on those services down 20.2 per cent year-on-year in July amid the ongoing US-Israel conflict with Iran.
Heathrow has historically dominated Europe’s airport rankings, holding the title of the continent’s busiest airport in most years from 1996 through to 2019.
It briefly lost the position during the pandemic before reclaiming it in 2023 and retaining the title through 2025.
The London airport handled 84.46 million passengers last year, while continuing to operate its two runways at close to full capacity.
Heathrow is seeking government approval for a third runway, with the proposed expansion expected to increase the airport’s capacity to up to 150 million passengers annually.
The airport said the latest passenger figures demonstrated the continued demand for Heathrow, pointing to several new airlines launching services from the airport in July.
“The case for expansion has never been clearer,” Heathrow said, arguing its plans would provide the infrastructure needed to support the UK’s competitiveness and economic growth.
Heathrow also recorded its busiest day of 2026 so far on 19 July, when 267,000 passengers travelled through the airport as schools across the UK began breaking for the summer holidays.
