On Wednesday lstanbul Airport moved more passengers than any airport in European history.
A staggering 271,836 travelers passed through in a single day, overtaking the previous record set by London Heathrow in 2024. But this wasn't a one-off spike. It marked a shift.
Heathrow held the crown for years, but Turkey's main gateway now leads in total capacity too. In July 2025 alone, Istanbul Airport handled 4.75 million seats, an 8 percent jump from last summer. It was enough to knock Heathrow to second place, even as the British hub stayed flat.
The surge came just months after Istanbul activated its third runway, a key move that unlocked more slots. And it's not just IST. Sabiha Gökçen Airport, across the city, is now the tenth busiest in Europe, growing 13 percent year-over-year.
Southern Europe stumbled slightly. Madrid and Rome saw small dips in seat counts despite the peak season. Rome Fiumicino still held onto eighth place, and won another "Best Airport" award, but the traffic tells a different story.
For now, the numbers are clear. Istanbul is not just growing fast, it is Europe's new leader.
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