Heathrow becomes world’s second-busiest international airport in 2025

London Heathrow ranked as the world’s second-busiest international airport in 2025, according to new data from aviation analytics firm OAG.

The west London hub recorded more than 49 million scheduled international seats last year, placing it just behind Dubai International Airport in the global rankings. Heathrow had previously been named the most connected airport in the world, offering flights to 226 destinations across 80 countries.

OAG analysed flight schedules from January to December 2025 to identify the busiest airports internationally and overall, including domestic traffic. The report found Heathrow’s international seat capacity was 1% higher than in 2024 and 4% above pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

When international and domestic seat capacity were combined, Heathrow emerged as Europe’s busiest airport and the fourth busiest globally, with a total of 52.1 million scheduled seats. Only Tokyo Haneda, Dubai International, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta airports ranked higher worldwide, with Atlanta taking the top spot.

The figures follow Heathrow’s announcement that it handled a record 84.5 million passengers in 2025, averaging more than 231,000 arrivals and departures per day. December was the airport’s busiest on record, with 7.2 million passengers.

As passenger numbers continue to rise, Heathrow is awaiting approval for a £49-billion expansion programme. The proposed ‘once-in-a-generation redesign’ includes a third runway, a new terminal, and a new tunnel for the M25, with the aim of increasing annual capacity to 150 million passengers.

AirHelp recently analysed flight data to identify the global aviation events that caused the most disruption to UK passengers in 2025.