Istanbul airport overtook Heathrow as Europe’s busiest airport in July, handling 8.15 million passengers against the west London hub’s 7.86 million, prompting Heathrow to say its “case for expansion has never been clearer”.
Figures published on Tuesday showed Heathrow’s July passenger total was 1.5 per cent lower than the same month last year, while Istanbul recorded a 2.3 per cent increase.
For more than two decades before the pandemic, Heathrow served more passengers than any other European airport, according to annual figures from the trade body Airports Council International. The UK’s biggest airport lost that position in 2020 amid coronavirus travel restrictions before regaining it in 2023.
Heathrow’s two runways operate at near full capacity and the airport is seeking government permission to build a third. Its £33bn expansion plan would enable it to accommodate 150 million passengers a year.
In a statement, the airport said: “The case for expansion has never been clearer, as Heathrow was overtaken in July by Istanbul airport as the busiest hub in Europe.
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