Incheon airport overtakes Heathrow and Changi to top global traffic rankings

International

INCHEON International Airport has overtaken London Heathrow and Singapore Changi to become the world’s busiest airport for international passenger traffic in the first half of the year.

South Korea’s main international gateway handled 38.4 million international passengers during the first six months, according to preliminary data from the Airports Council International.

London Heathrow ranked second with 37.79 million passengers, while Singapore’s Changi Airport placed third with 34.53 million.

Incheon’s rise was partly linked to changes in global travel patterns following the conflict between the US and Iran, which redirected some passengers away from major aviation hubs in the Middle East, according to Incheon International Airport Corporation.

Dubai International Airport, which ranked second in both 2024 and 2025 based on full-year figures, is expected to fall outside the top five in the latest ranking.

The latest figures mark a significant shift for Incheon, which ranked 12th in 2024 and 13th in 2025. Heathrow ranked fifth and seventh in those years, respectively.

The airport corporation said some passengers who previously transited through Dubai while travelling to Europe were instead connecting through Incheon. Transfer passenger numbers increased 18% from the same period last year.

Transfer passengers whose final destinations were in Europe rose 63.2% to 210,000, the corporation said.

The corporation also attributed Incheon’s ability to handle increased traffic to expanded infrastructure.

Opened in 2001, Incheon currently serves 158 international destinations. Hong Kong International Airport serves 139 destinations, while Shanghai Pudong serves 92 and Tokyo’s Narita serves 86.

“We’re grateful for the [South Korean] government’s support, the public’s encouragement and the hard work of everyone stationed at the airport in making Incheon the world’s No. 1 airport,” said the Incheon airport corporation’s acting president Kim Beom-ho in a BBC report.

Kim added that the corporation planned to strengthen the airport’s competitiveness by focusing on passenger convenience.(MyTVCebu)