London Heathrow no longer Europe's busiest airport

Heathrow has lost its position as Europe's busiest airport to Istanbul, new figures show.

The west London airport said 7.86m passengers passed through its four terminals in July, whereas its Turkish counterpart recorded 8.15m passengers.

The US-Israel conflict with Iran has had an impact on Heathrow's passenger traffic with Middle East routes in July down 20.2% year-on-year.

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.

Heathrow continues to operate its two runways at near-full capacity and is seeking government permission to build a third.

An expansion proposal by the airport's owners would enable it to accommodate 150m passengers per year. Heathrow said "the case for expansion has never been clearer".

In a statement, it added: "Our plans will ensure the country gets the infrastructure it needs to stay competitive and will deliver all-important economic growth."

The airport recorded 84.46 million passengers in 2025 and said 19 July was its busiest day of the year so far as many schools broke up for summer, with 267,000 passengers passing through.

It added that several new airlines began serving the airport last month, which demonstrates "clear demand for access to Heathrow".

Last month, it was revealed Heathrow will be allowed to charge airlines more for its services to recover money spent on the early stages of its third runway project.

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