In 2025, London Heathrow recorded its highest number of passengers ever. A whopping 84.5 million people used the travel hub last year, which equates to an average of more than 231,000 travellers arriving and departing every day.
However, that wasn’t enough for LHR to be busiest airport in the world. Airports Council International crunched the data and gave that title to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in the US, which welcomed more than 106m passengers in 2025.
Heathrow, on the other hand, was the seventh busiest airport on the planet last year. Despite having more passengers than ever, that’s two places down from where it ranked in 2024.
When it came to international passengers, the London airport landed in second place with a total of 79.8 million. The only airport that saw more international visitors in 2025 was Dubai, with over 95 million.
LHR’s staggering passenger numbers can largely be put down to the fact that it’s currently the most connected airport in the world. Last year, it offered travellers flights to an impressive 226 destinations across 80 different countries.
With passenger numbers on the up, Heathrow is planning a gargantuan £49 billion expansion. The proposed ‘once-in-a-generation redesign’ includes a third runway, a new terminal and a new junction on the M25, and hopes to boost annual capacity to a whopping 150 million.
The 10 busiest airports in the world in 2025
Here is Airports Council International’s full top 10 airports on the planet, based on last year’s passenger numbers.
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, USA (106 million passengers)
- Dubai International Airport, UAE (95 million)
- Tokyo Haneda International Airport, Japan (92 million)
- Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, USA (86 million)
- Shanghai Pudong International Airport, China (85 million)
- Chicago O’Hare International Airport, USA (85 million)
- London Heathrow International Airport, UK (84 million)
- Istanbul Airport, Turkey (84 million)
- Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, China (84 million)
- Denver International Airport, USA (82 million)
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Plus: Two London airports have been named in the 100 best in the world for 2026.
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