Heathrow on verge of losing title as Europe’s busiest airport

London’s Heathrow is set to lose its title as Europe’s busiest airport.

The title will likely fall to Istanbul, according to new figures as just 3,012 more passengers used the west London airport than its Turkish rival in May.

The airports both recorded 7.12 million passengers during the month, according to airports group ACI Europe.

It comes after Heathrow suffered a 1.2% decline from May 2025, while Istanbul had a 2% year-on-year boost.

The former recently warned that the Iran-US conflict is putting “notable downward pressure on traffic”, with its Middle East routes down 25%.

It said it expects its annual passenger numbers to fall by 1.1% this year compared with 2025.

Despite this, Heathrow continues to operate its two runways at near-full capacity, and it is seeking Government permission to build a third.

A proposal by the airport’s owners would enable it to accommodate 150 million passengers per year.

Some 84.5 million passengers passed through Heathrow’s four terminals last year.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander launched a consultation on the renamed Heathrow expansion national policy statement last month, setting out the conditions needed if the project is to be given the go-ahead.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said at the time she was determined to get “spades in the ground” for the third runway in the current Parliament, and for it to be built by 2035.

Meanwhile, the owner of Manchester and London Stansted airports has revealed a sharp pull-back in passenger growth amid pressure on air travel over the Iran war.

Manchester Airport Group (MAG), which also owns East Midlands Airport, reported passenger growth of 1.9% to 66.3 million for the year to March 31 – down from growth of 6% in the previous year.

Manchester Airport saw the most robust growth in the number of passengers travelling through its terminals, at 3.6% to 32.3 million, but this was down significantly on the 8% growth in 2024-25.

London Stansted saw passenger numbers increase by just 0.4%, down from a rise of 4.9% the previous year, while East Midlands saw a 1.3% decline.

But figures showed pre-tax profits for the parent group rose 4.5% to £227.4 million in the year to the end of March as revenues lifted 12.8%.

The group said: “Despite heightened geopolitical and economic uncertainty, Manchester Airport Group has demonstrated resilience and momentum, delivering strong results while continuing to invest for long-term growth and value creation for its stakeholders.

“The passenger growth Manchester Airport Group has seen, much like the overall resilience of the sector, reflects the fundamental desire people have to travel and the resulting growth it creates for individuals, businesses, regions and nations.”