European Air Traffic Upset: Istanbul's Rise and Heathrow's Unexpected Fall

Istanbul Airport (IST) has surpassed London Heathrow (LHR) to become Europe's busiest air hub in July, handling 8.15 million passengers. Heathrow recorded 7.86 million passengers during the same period.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Milan Suvajac, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Istanbul Airport

Traffic Shifts and Contributing Factors

Istanbul saw a 2.3% year-over-year increase in passenger traffic in July. In contrast, Heathrow experienced a 1.5% decline. This reduction at the London hub is partly attributed to a 20.2% drop in traffic to the Middle East, a consequence of the U.S.-Iran conflict.

London Heathrow held the top position in Europe from 1996 to 2019 and regained it in 2023 following the pandemic. The current shift in rankings is influenced by political considerations and the infrastructural limitations of the British hub.

Infrastructure Constraints and Expansion Plans

Heathrow is operating at its maximum capacity with its two runways. Plans to construct a third runway and expand terminals are intended to increase its passenger capacity to 150 million per year, but these projects are facing delays. In 2025, the airport handled nearly 84.5 million passengers.

Istanbul Airport, on the other hand, possesses significant unused capacity. It currently operates five runways, with a sixth under construction. The hub's development plan is structured in three phases:

• Phase One: Capacity for up to 90 million passengers annually (actual figure for 2025 is 84.4 million).
• Phase Two: Capacity for up to 150 million passengers.
• Phase Three: Capacity for up to 200 million passengers.

Source: This commentary was adapted from an original Russian-language publication by Pravda.Ru.