Heathrow says need for expansion ‘clear’ as it loses title of Europe’s busiest airport
Summary
Heathrow Airport has lost its title as Europe’s busiest airport to Istanbul Airport, which had more passengers in July 2024. Heathrow is operating nearly at full capacity and is pushing for government approval to build a third runway to handle more passengers and support economic growth.Key Facts
- Heathrow had 7.86 million passengers in July 2024.
- Istanbul Airport had 8.15 million passengers in the same month, overtaking Heathrow.
- Heathrow was Europe’s busiest airport from 1996 to 2019 and regained the title after 2020 until now.
- Passenger traffic at Heathrow on Middle East routes dropped by 20.2% due partly to the US-Israel-Iran conflict.
- Heathrow runs nearly at full capacity with two runways and wants permission to add a third runway.
- The planned expansion would allow Heathrow to serve up to 150 million passengers a year; it handled 84.46 million passengers in 2023.
- The UK government is consulting on Heathrow’s expansion plan, with aims to build the third runway by 2035.
- New airlines from Italy, the US, and Saudi Arabia have started flights to Heathrow, showing high demand.
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