Seoul’s Incheon overtakes Dubai as world’s busiest airport

South Korea’s Incheon International Airport overtook Dubai to become the world’s busiest airport for international passengers in the first half of 2026, as the Iran conflict disrupted travel through the Middle East, preliminary industry data showed.

Incheon handled 38.4 million international passengers in the six months through June, putting it ahead of London Heathrow and Singapore Changi, according to Airports Council International (ACI) figures released by the South Korean airport on Thursday, 13 August. The figures are subject to final validation, with ACI due to publish the data next month.

The ranking marks a sharp change from 2025, when Incheon was third in international passenger traffic behind Dubai and Heathrow. Singapore’s Changi, Amsterdam Schiphol and Istanbul Airport followed. Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson remained the world’s busiest airport overall, reflecting its large domestic passenger volumes.

Dubai’s traffic fell sharply after the Iran conflict began in late February and the airport was almost entirely closed in the immediate aftermath. Emirates resumed flights within days, but passenger volumes have yet to return to prewar levels.

International passenger traffic through Dubai dropped to 2.5 million in March from 7.4 million in February, according to the ACI data. It recovered to about 4.7 million in June but remained well below levels seen before the disruption.

The disruption has also changed travel patterns between Europe and Asia. European and Asian airlines have recorded more passengers flying directly between the two regions rather than connecting through Middle Eastern hubs, with Incheon emerging as one of the beneficiaries.

The number of passengers flying from Europe to Incheon and then connecting onward rose by two-thirds in the first half from a year earlier, the airport said. It attributed the increase partly to weaker transfer traffic through Middle Eastern hubs such as Dubai, which pushed some travelers toward direct services and connections through South Korea.

Incheon has also benefited from a tourism boom in South Korea, driven by increased arrivals from China and Japan and wider international interest in the country’s entertainment, technology and beauty industries.

The airport has been expanding services aimed at attracting transfer passengers. It has added facilities including an in-terminal hotel, a 24-hour sauna, free sleeping areas and a museum, while deploying robots to help passengers navigate the terminals. Virgin Atlantic also began flying between Heathrow and Incheon this year.