Heathrow No Longer Europes Top Airport

By Tony Winterburn • Published: 18 Jan 2021 • 19:30

Istanbul Airport has already outpaced Heathrow by passenger numbers, welcoming around 23.4 million people last year, and is likely to become Europe's number one airport for 2020. Heathrow is also set to fall behind Paris Charles de Gaulle. France’s main airport served some 21.1 million passengers in the January-November period, one million less than Heathrow had for the whole year. Global air hubs saw annual passenger numbers plummet between 70 and 80 percent for the pandemic year, but some hubs logged smaller declines, allowing them to rise in the rankings. For example, the largest Russian airport in terms of passenger and cargo traffic, Sheremetyevo International Airport, climbed three spots in the list of busiest European air hubs and now sits in fifth place. Sheremetyevo served 19.8 million passengers last year. image: HT press media

Heathrow No Longer Europes Top Airport.

London’s Heathrow Airport has lost its crown among European air hubs by the amount of passenger traffic it saw last year due to most countries keeping their borders shut to contain Covid-19.

The key airport received some 22.1 million passengers in 2020 – a steep decline compared to the nearly 81 million travellers it welcomed in the previous, pre-pandemic, year. Due to the 73 per cent collapse in passenger traffic, Heathrow is now set to fall to third place in the league of European airports.

Istanbul Airport has already outpaced Heathrow by passenger numbers, welcoming around 23.4 million people last year, and is likely to become Europe’s number one airport for 2020. Heathrow is also set to fall behind Paris Charles de Gaulle. France’s main airport served some 21.1 million passengers in the January-November period, one million less than Heathrow had for the whole year.

Global air hubs saw annual passenger numbers plummet between 70 and 80 per cent for the pandemic year, but some hubs logged smaller declines, allowing them to rise in the rankings. For example, the largest Russian airport in terms of passenger and cargo traffic, Sheremetyevo International Airport, climbed three spots in the list of busiest European air hubs and now sits in fifth place. Sheremetyevo served 19.8 million passengers last year.

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