Heathrow Airport has dropped out of the list of top 10 best-connected airports worldwide, new data has revealed.
Heathrow is now ranked 12th, slipping from its position at 8th in 2023, a survey by Aviation analyst Cirium, which has calculated the number of airports each hub served between January and June 2024, showed.
It comes despite the west London airport handling more passengers than any of its European competitors and offering over 4.5 million seats this month, according to OAG Aviation.
It was ranked the world’s fifth busiest airport last year.
Its ranking as best-connected has improved considerably in recent years, as pre-pandemic records revealed the west London hub stood in 18th position, according to the Independent.
In the first half of 2024, it served 221 locations while London Gatwick Airport served 218 and has been positioned 14th. It trails Heathrow by two spots despite serving half of the passengers Heathrow does.
In the list whittled down from airports worldwide, Istanbul emerged on top with some 309 destinations on offer. Most are on Turkish Airlines, the carrier with the most extensive route network in the world.
Next to follow Istanbul is Frankfurt, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam Schipnol with 296, 282 and 270 locations on their departure screens respectively.
The only other European airport in the top 10 and in 10th position is Rome Fiumicino, with 234 locations.
Meanwhile, Chicago O’Hare is the top non-European airport listed, serving 270 airports next to Dubai International which recorded 269.
Dallas-Fort Worth, Shanghai Pudong and Atlanta occupy seventh, eighth and ninth place in the table respectively.
Of the top 20, half are European airports as four are each located in China and the US.
