Istanbul ranked as world’s most-connected airport this year

Heathrow dropped from the world’s ten most-connected airports in the first half of this year, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium which reports Istanbul was the best-connected airport globally.

Istanbul topped the table, offering direct flights to 309 destinations, ahead of Frankfurt which offered 296 and Paris Charles de Gaulle on 282 destinations in the first half the year.

Heathrow fell to 12th place with direct flights to 221 destinations, down from eighth position in the first half of last year, although the UK’s largest airport remains considerably better connected than in 2019 when it was in 18th place in the ‘most connected airport’ league table.

Amsterdam Schiphol and Chicago O’Hare airports ranked equal fourth in the table with 270 destinations apiece, Dubai sixth (269), Dallas Fort Worth seventh (261), Shanghai eighth (243), Atlanta ninth (237), Rome Fiumicino tenth (234), and Denver 11th (229).

Gatwick was in 15th place with direct flights to 218 destinations, the same as Madrid Barajas.

Cirium noted that half the top 20 airports in the first half of the year are in Europe, four in the US, four in China and two in the Middle East (Dubai and Jeddah).

Istanbul Ataturk Airport is the larger of two international airports in Istanbul and the hub of Turkish Airlines.