Istanbul Airport tops global connectivity ranking

ISTANBUL

Istanbul Airport has overtaken London Heathrow as the world’s most internationally connected airport in aviation data provider OAG’s Megahubs 2026 index.

The airport rose from second place last year. Heathrow ranked second, followed by Amsterdam Schiphol, Kuala Lumpur and Chicago O’Hare.

The index, released in September, compares possible connections to and from international flights with the number of destinations served.

This year’s calculations used flight schedules for Aug. 2, the busiest day for global aviation in the period examined.

“Today, we already serve approximately 350 destinations around the world, with significant room to grow further,” Istanbul Airport CEO Selahattin Bilgen told CNN.

He said the airport’s efficiency and cost advantages continued to attract new airlines each year.

The airport handles more than 84 million passengers annually. Its long-term expansion plans envisage capacity for 200 million passengers a year.