# Incheon becomes world’s busiest airport; Dubai drops out of top five 2026-08-13T19:16:45+00:00 | World & Diplomacy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Incheon International Airport in South Korea has overtaken all others as the world's busiest airport for international travel, handling 38.4 million foreign travellers in the first half of this year, according to preliminary statistics from the Airports Council International. London Heathrow came second with 37.79 million passengers, followed by Singapore Changi with 34.53 million. Dubai International Airport, ranked second in both 2024 and 2025 on full-year data, is now projected to fall outside the top five. NDTV Profit reports that tension between the United States and Iran has diverted passengers from Middle Eastern hubs to Incheon. The airport saw an 18% rise in transfer passengers, helped by infrastructure upgrades since its 2001 opening. ## Coverage - ndtvprofit.com Tags: aviation rankings, Dubai, geopolitics, Incheon Airport, Iran, South Korea Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/incheon-becomes-worlds-busiest-airport-dubai-drops-out-of-top-five/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/incheon-becomes-worlds-busiest-airport-dubai-drops-out-of-top-five/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.