London Heathrow remains Europe’s busiest airport, but Istanbul’s rapid growth puts it on the verge of taking the lead as international travel drives a sector-wide recovery.
PARIS: London Heathrow retained its title as Europe’s busiest airport last year, but Istanbul Airport is now just 40,000 passengers behind and poised to overtake it soon.
According to industry group ACI Europe, Heathrow handled 84.48 million passengers in 2025, a modest 0.7% increase attributed to airlines using larger aircraft at the capacity-constrained hub.
Istanbul Airport, however, saw passenger numbers surge 5.5% to 84.44 million, continuing its rapid growth since opening in 2018.
Turkey’s strategic position as a gateway between Europe and Asia has fuelled this expansion. It has also become a key hub for flights connecting Russia, which is under Western sanctions, with the rest of the world.
British authorities have approved a third runway for Heathrow, but it is not expected to be operational before 2035.
The next busiest airports in Europe were Paris-Charles de Gaulle with 72 million passengers, Amsterdam-Schiphol with 68.8 million, and Madrid with 68.1 million.
Overall passenger traffic across Europe climbed 4.4% last year to 2.6 billion people. ACI Europe noted this growth was “entirely driven by international traffic”.
“Travel remains among consumers’ top discretionary spending priorities,” said ACI Europe’s director general Olivier Jankovec.
He added that the sector continues to benefit from the post-pandemic recovery, though growth is expected to “normalise” at around 3.3% this year.
Jankovec warned that geopolitics and geoeconomics are likely to further test the sector’s resilience in the coming months.
