Incheon Airport Takes No. 1 Spot in the World, Surpassing Dubai and Heathrow

Incheon International Airport has overtaken major hub airports in the Middle East and Europe to rank No. 1 in international passenger traffic worldwide for the first half of this year, the first time it has done so since opening. The achievement is seen as the result of capturing transfer demand created by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and securing air network advantages through proactive infrastructure expansion.
Incheon International Airport Corporation said on the 13th that the airport handled 38.39 million international passengers in the first half, up 6.3% from a year earlier, based on preliminary figures. That placed it first among 1,234 airports worldwide, according to Airports Council International (ACI). It is a record reached 25 years after the airport opened in 2001.
Incheon Airport, which started out ranked 10th in the world in 2002, rose to fifth in 2018, third in 2024, and then climbed to first this year.
Its rivals followed behind, with Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom handling 37.79 million passengers and Singapore Changi Airport recording 34.53 million. The figures surpass the performance of DXB and Heathrow, which had held the top two spots for more than a decade.
A key factor behind the strong performance was the capture of global transfer demand amid geopolitical shifts. As transfer functions at major Middle Eastern airports were reduced in the wake of the U.S.-Iran war, demand for European routes that had previously passed through Dubai shifted to direct and connecting flights via Incheon Airport.
In fact, Incheon Airport handled 4,244,992 transfer passengers in the first half, up 18.1% from 3,595,660 a year earlier. Transfer traffic on European routes, in particular, jumped 63.2% to 213,542 passengers, driving the overall increase.
The influx of foreign visitors to South Korea also played a role. Foreign passengers accounted for 44.4% of total traffic in the second quarter and 39.3% for the first half as a whole.
Kim Beom-ho, acting president of Incheon International Airport Corporation, said, "I would like to thank the government’s support, the public’s encouragement and the hard work of our on-site staff for making Incheon Airport the world’s No. 1 airport." He added, "We will stay true to the basics while accelerating service improvements, including stronger regional connections, to enhance convenience for the public and grow into an airport that contributes to the development of the nation’s aviation industry."
[email protected] Kim Dong-ho Reporter