South Korea's Incheon Airport has been named the world's busiest airport for international passenger traffic for the first time. Preliminary data from the Airports Council International (ACI) shows Incheon, located near Seoul, handled 38.4 million international passengers in the first six months of this year.
London's Heathrow Airport was overtaken, ranking second with 37.8 million international passengers, followed by Singapore's Changi Airport with 34.5 million. The rise in Incheon's popularity is partly attributed to the US-Iran conflict, which has led to passengers being rerouted from Middle Eastern hubs like Dubai to alternative Asian routes.
Dubai International Airport, which held the second position in 2024 and 2025 based on full-year data, is projected to fall outside the top five this year. Incheon Airport's acting president, Kim Beom-ho, stated the ranking reflects "the support of the government, the public’s encouragement and the hard work of everyone stationed at the airport."
Separately, Heathrow Airport was also surpassed by Istanbul Airport as Europe's busiest airport by total passenger numbers in July. ACI figures released on Tuesday indicated 7.9 million passengers passed through Heathrow in July, compared to 8.15 million at Istanbul.