Dubai was the world's busiest airport for international travel in 2025, handling 95.2 million international passengers - about 15.3 million more than London Heathrow - in Airports Council International's preliminary 2025 ranking.
Dubai International Airport (DXB) was the world's busiest airport by international passenger traffic in 2025, with 95,192,160 international passengers. London Heathrow was second with 79.87 million and Seoul Incheon third with 73.55 million. Figures are Airports Council International (ACI World) preliminary 2025 data, released April 2026.
Overall passenger rankings are led by big domestic hubs such as Atlanta. Count only passengers flying between two countries and the order changes: long-haul connecting hubs and city-state airports dominate. This list ranks the ten busiest airports by international passenger traffic in calendar year 2025, using Airports Council International (ACI World) preliminary figures published in April 2026. Every figure on this page comes from that one release.
Dubai was again the world's busiest airport for international passengers in 2025, with 95.19 million, about 15.3 million more than second-placed Heathrow. Almost all of its traffic is international, as the UAE has no domestic air market of note.
Heathrow handled 79.87 million international passengers in 2025, keeping second place despite the slowest growth in the top ten (+0.9%). It is the busiest international airport in Europe on ACI's ranking.
Seoul's Incheon kept third place with 73.55 million international passengers in 2025, up 4.1% after its jump from seventh to third in 2024.
Changi handled 69.40 million international passengers in 2025. As a city-state airport, all of its passenger traffic is international.
Schiphol served 68.77 million international passengers in 2025, up 2.9%, keeping fifth place.
Istanbul Airport rose one place to sixth with 66.61 million international passengers in 2025, up 5.8%.
Charles de Gaulle slipped one place to seventh with 66.14 million international passengers, about 470,000 behind Istanbul.
Hong Kong posted the fastest growth in the top ten, up 14.9% to 60.82 million international passengers in 2025, and moved up to eighth.
Frankfurt handled 57.53 million international passengers in 2025, up 2.4%, and dropped one place to ninth as Hong Kong passed it.
Doha's Hamad International completes the top ten with 54.34 million international passengers in 2025, up 3.1%.
| # | Name | Country/territory | IATA code | International passengers 2025 | Change vs 2024 | Rank change vs 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dubai International Airport (DXB) | United Arab Emirates | DXB | 95,192,160 | +3.1% | Unchanged (1st) |
| 2 | London Heathrow Airport (LHR) | United Kingdom | LHR | 79,874,784 | +0.9% | Unchanged (2nd) |
| 3 | Incheon International Airport (ICN) | South Korea | ICN | 73,554,772 | +4.1% | Unchanged (3rd) |
| 4 | Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) | Singapore | SIN | 69,402,000 | +3.5% | Unchanged (4th) |
| 5 | Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) | Netherlands | AMS | 68,767,548 | +2.9% | Unchanged (5th) |
| 6 | Istanbul Airport (IST) | Turkey | IST | 66,608,849 | +5.8% | Up 1 (from 7th) |
| 7 | Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) | France | CDG | 66,135,938 | +2.6% | Down 1 (from 6th) |
| 8 | Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) | Hong Kong | HKG | 60,824,359 | +14.9% | Up 1 (from 9th) |
| 9 | Frankfurt Airport (FRA) | Germany | FRA | 57,528,528 | +2.4% | Down 1 (from 8th) |
| 10 | Hamad International Airport (DOH) | Qatar | DOH | 54,338,667 | +3.1% | Unchanged (10th) |
Airports are ranked by international passengers in calendar year 2025 (rank 1 = most), as published in ACI World's preliminary 2025 world airport traffic rankings (released 14 April 2026) and reproduced in Wikipedia's list of busiest airports by international passenger traffic. Year-on-year changes and rank changes are ACI's comparisons with 2024. These are preliminary figures: ACI typically confirms final rankings in mid-year, and finals can differ slightly; the final 2025 dataset could not be checked for this update. No figures from other years, editions or airport-reported totals are mixed in.
Dubai International (DXB), with 95,192,160 international passengers in 2025 according to ACI World's preliminary rankings, about 15.3 million more than second-placed London Heathrow (79,874,784).
A passenger on a flight between two different countries or territories. Domestic passengers flying within one country are excluded, which is why airports such as Atlanta, which top the overall ranking, do not appear here.
Hong Kong, up 14.9% to 60.82 million international passengers, which lifted it from ninth to eighth. Istanbul was next at +5.8%, and Heathrow grew least, at +0.9%.
The top five were unchanged (Dubai, Heathrow, Incheon, Changi, Schiphol). Istanbul passed Paris Charles de Gaulle for sixth, and Hong Kong passed Frankfurt for eighth. Doha stayed tenth.
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