Istanbul Overtakes Heathrow as Europe’s Busiest Airport

Turkey’s Istanbul Airport has overtaken London Heathrow to become Europe’s busiest airport by passenger traffic, marking a significant shift at the top of the continent’s aviation rankings.

In July 2026, Istanbul Airport handled 8.15 million passengers, an increase of 2.3% compared with the same month last year. Heathrow recorded 7.86 million passengers, representing a 1.5% year-on-year decline.

The result means Heathrow has lost its position as Europe’s busiest airport for the first time since 2023, while Istanbul continues to strengthen its role as one of the world’s most important international connecting hubs.

This gave the Turkish hub a lead of nearly 300,000 travelers and marked a major shift driven by Heathrow’s capacity limits and a dip in regional traffic.

Annual figures from trade body Airports Council International show Heathrow was Europe’s busiest airport from 1996 to 2019.

It lost that title in 2020 amid coronavirus travel restrictions before regaining it in 2023, holding it ever since. But, Heathrow continues to operate its two runways at near-full capacity and is seeking government permission to build a third.

In 2025, the airports were neck-to-neck with both serving close to 84.5 million passengers, Heathrow being just slightly ahead, according to aviation data.

But the significance of Istanbul’s rise as an aviation hub goes far beyond a single month’s traffic figures.

Behind the numbers is a much bigger story about Türkiye’s bet on aviation, the rapid expansion of national carrier Turkish Airlines, Istanbul’s geographic position between Europe, Asia and Africa and the right timing – which all helped the airport to find its name at the top of the lists.