The incredible Istanbul Airport has won a host of awards in its almost six short years of operations. This week, the Turkish airport added to its accolades by being named the world’s most well-connected airport in the world, beating out several more famous airports on the list.
The £9.4bn transport hub, situated on the European side of the city, serves a whopping 309 destinations – far ahead of its rivals.
The list of the top 20 well-connected airports, compiled by aviation analytics platform Cirium, was based on the number of nonstop destinations they have served in the first half of 2024.
Frankfurt came second with 296 non-stop destinations, while Paris Charles de Gaulle serves 282 and Amsterdam Schiphol serves 270.
There were two British entries on the list, but both of them fell outside the top ten. London Heathrow landed 12th spot while Gatwick made it to 15th place.
Turkey is rapidly becoming one of the world’s aviation powerhouses.
In March this year, the airport in the Turkish capital won the best airport in the world for the fourth year in a row at the Air Transport Awards in Greece. The votes of more than 4,000 industry executives and Air Transport News readers determined the winners.
The Istanbul airport, which was inaugurated in 2018, was built with seamless connectivity across continents in mind.
The capital is already one of the most strategic transport locations straddling Europe and Asia while sitting close to Africa.
In 2023, the Istanbul Airport, which is the hub for Turkish Airlines, served more than 76 million passengers.
This made it the second-busiest airport in Europe last year after Heathrow Airport as well as the second-busiest airport in the Middle East, after Dubai International Airport.
Istanbul Airport’s sheer size and infrastructure are among its most impressive features.
While the airport currently has five runways in operation, there are plans to expand further.
The airport plans to have nine runways by 2027, and up to 12 runways in the future.
The full list of the best well-connected airports:
- Istanbul Airport
- Frankfurt Airport
- Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
- Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
- Chicago O’Hare Airport
- Dubai International Airport
- Dallas Fort Worth International Airport
- Shanghai Pudong International Airport
- Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport
- Rome Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Aiport
- Denver International Airport
- London Heathrow Airport
- Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport
- Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport
- London Gatwick Airport
- Munich Franz Joseph Strauss Airport
- Barcelona El-Prat Airport
- Beijing Capital International Airport
- Chengdu Tianfu International Airport
- Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport