London Heathrow Loses Status as Europe's Busiest Airport

In July, Istanbul Airport served approximately 8.15 million passengers, while 7.86 million people passed through Heathrow's four terminals. Thus, the difference was almost 300 thousand passengers.

According to Airports Council International, Heathrow had been Europe's largest airport for many years. From 1996 to 2019, it held the top spot, but in 2020, it lost its leadership due to restrictions on international travel during the coronavirus pandemic. In 2023, the London airport once again became the busiest in Europe and maintained this position until the current year.

Now the situation has changed. Heathrow's passenger traffic in July was 1.5% lower than in the same month last year. In Istanbul, on the contrary, the number of passengers increased by 2.3%.

One of the main reasons for Heathrow's decline in performance was the reduction in air travel to the Middle East. Amid the ongoing conflict between Iran and the United States, passenger traffic to destinations in the region decreased by 20.2% year-on-year in July.

At Heathrow itself, the current figures are considered an additional argument in favor of expanding the airport. The two existing runways operate almost at their capacity limits, which is why the airport management has been seeking permission to build a third runway for several years.

If the project is implemented, Heathrow's capacity is planned to increase to approximately 150 million passengers per year. For comparison, in 2025, the airport served slightly less than 85 million passengers.

However, the prospects for building a third runway remain uncertain. Former Finance Minister Rachel Reeves previously stated that she expects its launch by 2035. The new UK Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, is less favorable to the project. He believes that expanding Heathrow could lead to investments again being concentrated in London instead of the country's northern regions.

Despite falling behind Istanbul in July, Heathrow remains extremely busy. July 19 was the airport's busiest day this year, with approximately 267,000 passengers served within 24 hours.

At the same time, the airport continues to expand its list of airlines. Since July, flights to Heathrow have been operated by Italian ITA Airways, American Alaska Airlines, and Saudi Riyadh Air.

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