Some links to products and partners on this website will earn an affiliate commission.

London Heathrow has finally been dethroned. With 271,836 passengers handled in a single day, Istanbul Airport recently set a new European record – surpassing Heathrow, which has held the “busiest airport” crown for years.

This isn’t just a summer blip either. It looks increasingly like a sign of where Europe’s aviation balance of power is shifting.

Istanbul Airport only opened in 2019, but expansion has been relentless. The opening of a third runway earlier this year has eased congestion and boosted capacity – and the results are immediate.

• 4.75 million seats handled in July 2025
• An 8% increase year-on-year
• Heathrow, by comparison, is flat

It’s not just Istanbul Airport that’s growing. On the Asian side of the city, Sabiha Gökçen Airport has now entered Europe’s top 10 busiest airports for the first time, thanks to 13% growth year-on-year.

At the heart of all this is Turkish Airlines. By exploiting Istanbul’s location, the airline has become a serious competitor to the classic network carriers like Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, and British Airways.

Bottom line

Heathrow’s slot restrictions and Frankfurt/Munich’s capacity limits mean rivals can’t scale in the same way. Turkish Airlines can – and that flexibility is increasingly visible in passenger flows across continents.