Incheon becomes busiest airport for international traffic

Seoul : Seoul's Incheon International Airport has emerged as the world's busiest airport for international passenger traffic in the first half of 2026, with Middle East disruptions helping redirect travelers toward East Asia.

Preliminary data from Airports Council International (ACI) showed Incheon handled 38.39 million international passengers between January and June, up 6.3 percent from the same period a year earlier.

London Heathrow ranked second with 37.79 million international passengers, followed by Singapore Changi with 34.53 million.

This marks the first time Incheon has topped the global international passenger rankings since opening in 2001. The airport ranked 10th in 2002, fifth in 2018 and third in both 2024 and 2025.

Airport officials attributed part of the latest growth to disruption in the Middle East linked to the US-Iran conflict. The instability reduced the role of major Middle Eastern connecting hubs and shifted some transfer traffic toward East Asian airports.

Incheon also benefited from growing tourism demand. Foreign passengers accounted for 39.3 percent of its traffic during the first half, rising sharply from 35.2 percent for all of 2025.

The airport currently serves 101 airlines connecting 183 cities and has an annual capacity of 106 million passengers following its latest expansion.