Incheon Airport tops global passenger traffic in H1 2026
Incheon International Airport, South Korea’s main gateway, ranked first worldwide in international passenger traffic in the first half of this year, Qazinform News Agency reports, citing Yonhap.
The airport handled more than 38 million travelers, the airport operator said Thursday.
It is the first time since opening in 2001 that Incheon has led the global ranking. The airport handled 38.39 million international passengers between January and June, up 6.3 percent from a year earlier, according to Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC).
Preliminary data from Airports Council International showed Incheon ahead of London Heathrow (37.79 million) and Singapore Changi (34.53 million) among 1,234 airports worldwide.
Incheon’s ranking has steadily climbed, from 10th in 2002 (20.55 million passengers) to fifth in 2018 (67.68 million) and third in 2024 (70.67 million).
IIAC officials suggested that existing air travel demand, including traffic between Dubai and Europe, may have shifted to Incheon as transit operations at Middle Eastern hubs weakened following the U.S.-Iran war.
Transfer passengers at Incheon rose 18.1 percent year‑on‑year to 4.24 million in the first half, with European transfers surging 63.2 percent to 210,000.
The share of foreign passengers reached a record 44.4 percent in the second quarter, underscoring Incheon’s growing role as a global hub.
Earlier, it was reported that Astana airport served 9.2 million passengers in 2025.
