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U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye Tom Barrack congratulated Istanbul Airport on Monday after it was ranked the most connected airport in the world by global travel data provider Official Airline Guide (OAG).
"Istanbul Airport is now the most connected airport on earth—#1 in OAG's Megahubs 2026, ahead of Heathrow, with 337 destinations and nearly 90,000 possible connections on a single day," Barrack said on X.
The U.S. envoy also extended his congratulations to the airport CEO, Selahattin Bilgen, and the entire team at airport operator Istanbul Grand Airport (IGA).
"Türkiye sits at the crossroads of the world, and IGA has built the hub to prove it," he added.
OAG announced the ranking in September, stating that Istanbul Airport in Türkiye claimed the top spot globally as the most connected aviation hub, while London Heathrow fell to second place amid ongoing disruptions to Middle East schedules.
IGA Istanbul Airport served 56.6 million passengers aboard a total of 52,468 flights in the first eight months of the year, including 11.9 million domestic and 44.7 million international travelers, according to the State Airports Authority General Directorate (DHMI).
The airport was also crowned the world's best airport through a survey by leading travel magazine Travel + Leisure in July.
The airport handled 39.92 million passengers in the first half of the year, 31.69 million of them on international routes. August alone brought in nearly 8.6 million travelers, roughly 6.7 million on overseas flights.
On Aug. 1, Istanbul Airport set an all-time daily record for both Türkiye and Europe, welcoming 289,260 people, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu announced at the time. The figure topped the previous high of 282,835, reached on Aug. 2, 2025.
Data from the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) ranked the hub first in Europe in August, with a daily average of 1,665 flights between Aug. 10 and 16, ahead of Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam and London Heathrow. Over the same week, it placed sixth among 25 airports worldwide, recording 843 departures per day.
Istanbul Airport closed 2025 with a record 84.46 million passengers, up 5% from 2024, and set a target of 90 million for 2026. IGA data show 116 scheduled airlines operate at the facility.
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