London-Heathrow Airport (LHR) has said that the “case for expansion has never been clearer” after Istanbul Airport (IST) was crowned Europe’s busiest in July 2026.
On August 11, 2026, Heathrow Airport said that its plans for a third runway “will ensure the country gets the infrastructure it needs to stay competitive” and “deliver all-important economic growth”.
Heathrow published its latest passenger figures indicating 7.859 million travelers passed through its terminals in July 2026, a 1.5% fall from last year.
On August 9, 2026, Turkey’s Transport and Infrastructure Minister, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, announced 8.15 million passengers travelled through Istanbul Airport in July 2026.
Enes Çakmak, the Director General of the Directorate of State Airports Authority of Turkey, also said that on August 9, 2026, Istanbul Airport served 289,732 passengers.
“We have reached the highest daily passenger number ever recorded to date in the aviation history of Türkiye and Europe,” Çakmak wrote on social media.
Heathrow also marked its busiest day of the year so far, welcoming 267,000 passengers on July 19, 2026, largely thanks to school children breaking up for the summer.
Despite the record, Heathrow said it is operating at capacity, implying that without infrastructure growth it is limited in what it can achieve.
“We want to go further, growing our route network and passenger offering,” Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye said. “Expanding Heathrow will help ensure the UK remains home to Europe’s leading hub and continues to benefit from the trade, investment and tourism that increased connectivity will bring.”
New additions to the airport including ITA Airways, Alaska Airlines and Riyadh Air carried more than 136,000 passengers last month.
Cargo traffic also saw its busiest day of 2026 so far, with 5,000 tons of cargo passing through Heathrow’s doors on July 12, 2026.
Overall volumes are up 2% year-on-year, driven by continued strong demand from South Asia and North America.