When it comes to air travel in the United Kingdom, many airports come to mind. However, have you ever wondered which one is the biggest? Let’s get deeper into this thought and find the UK’s biggest airport. The answer – is London Heathrow Airport, often simply called “Heathrow.” Without a doubt, it is the biggest airport in the country, not just by its size but also by the number of passengers. In fact, it is one of the busiest in the world!
Heathrow Airport is located in the west of London, specifically in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It is easily accessible to the surrounding villages of Sipson, Harlington, Harmondsworth, and Longford. It sits about 14 miles west of Central London, making it closer to the heart of the city. The location is precisely picked out as it serves major hubs for London and the broader UK.
The size of the UK’s biggest airport is quite impressive; its surface area is around 4.69 square miles (12.27 square kilometers). To put this in perspective, it is about the size of a 2,800 football field. The airport has 60 aircraft stands and can accommodate air travel services to millions of passengers every year. Just last year, the airport served around 79 million passengers in 2023, meaning it has the capacity to manage a large inflow of travelers. Other aspects include:
Heathrow is more than just a place where planes take off and land; it’s a complex ecosystem with many unique features. Since it serves a large audience, the airport has to be tight on security and provide numerous transportation hubs, along with multiple shopping and dining options.
From London Heathrow, passengers can book tickets to 214 destinations across 84 countries. The airport serves around 89 airlines that offer flight services to the mentioned places.
Airlines | Destinations |
Aegean Airlines | Athens |
Aer Lingus | Cork, Dublin, Knock, Shannon |
Aeroméxico | Mexico City |
Air Algérie | Algiers |
Air Astana | Aktau, Almaty |
Air Canada | Calgary, Halifax, Montréal–Trudeau, Toronto–Pearson, Vancouver, Delhi |
Air China | Beijing–Capital, Chengdu–Tianfu |
Air France | Nice, Paris–Charles de Gaulle |
Air India | Delhi, Mumbai |
Air Serbia | Belgrade |
All Nippon Airways | Tokyo–Haneda |
Asiana Airlines | Seoul–Incheon |
Austrian Airlines | Vienna |
Avianca | Bogotá |
Azerbaijan Airlines | Baku |
Beijing Capital Airlines | Qingdao |
Biman Bangladesh Airlines | Dhaka, Sylhet |
British Airways | Aberdeen Abu Dhabi Abuja Accra Amman–Queen Alia Amsterdam Athens Atlanta Austin Bahrain Baltimore Bangalore Barbados Barcelona Basel/Mulhouse Beijing–Daxing Belfast–City Belgrade Berlin Bermuda Billund Bologna Boston Brussels Bucharest–Otopeni Budapest Buenos Aires–Ezeiza Cairo Cape Town Chennai Chicago–O’Hare Cincinnati Copenhagen Cologne/Bonn Dallas/Fort Worth Delhi Denver Doha Dubai–International Dublin Düsseldorf Edinburgh Frankfurt Funchal Geneva Gibraltar Glasgow Gothenburg Grand Cayman Hamburg Hanover Hong Kong Houston–Intercontinental Hyderabad Inverness Islamabad Istanbul Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen Jeddah Jersey Johannesburg–O.R Tambo Kraków Kuala Lumpur–International Kuwait City Lagos Larnaca Las Vegas Lisbon Los Angeles Luxembourg Lyon Madrid Málaga Malé Manchester Marrakesh Marseille Mexico City Miami Milan–Linate Milan–Malpensa Montréal–Trudeau Mumbai Munich Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta Naples Nashville Nassau Newark Newcastle upon Tyne New Orleans New York–JFK Nice Oslo Paris–Charles de Gaulle Philadelphia Phoenix–Sky Harbor Pisa Pittsburgh Portland (OR) Prague Providenciales Reykjavík–Keflavík Riga Rio de Janeiro–Galeão Riyadh Rome–Fiumicino San Diego San Francisco Santiago de Chile São Paulo–Guarulhos Seattle/Tacoma Shanghai–Pudong Singapore Sofia Stockholm–Arlanda Stuttgart Sydney Tel Aviv Tenerife–South Tirana Tokyo–Haneda Toronto–Pearson Toulouse Valencia Vancouver Venice Vienna Warsaw–Chopin Washington–Dulles Zagreb Zürich Seasonal: Bodrum, Brindisi, Chania, Corfu, Dalaman, Dubrovnik, Faro, Figari, Florence, Grenoble, Heraklion, Ibiza, Innsbruck, İzmir, Kalamata, Kefalonia, Kos, Ljubljana, Mykonos, Nuremberg, Olbia, Palermo, Palma de Mallorca, Paphos, Perugia, Ponta Delgada, Preveza/Lefkada, Pula, Rhodes, Salzburg, Santorini, Split, Thessaloniki, Tromsø, Turin, and Zakynthos. |
Brussels Airlines | Brussels |
Bulgaria Air | Sofia |
Cathay Pacific | Hong Kong |
China Airlines | Taipei–Taoyuan |
China Eastern Airlines | Shanghai–Pudong |
China Southern Airlines | Beijing–Daxing, Guangzhou, and Wuhan. |
Croatia Airlines | ZagrebSeasonal: Split |
Delta Air Lines | Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York–JFK, Salt Lake City, and Seattle/Tacoma. Seasonal: Orlando |
Egyptair | Cairo Seasonal: Luxor |
El Al | Tel Aviv |
Emirates | Dubai–International |
Ethiopian Airlines | Addis Ababa |
Etihad Airways | Abu Dhabi |
Eurowings | Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, and Stuttgart. |
EVA Air | Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi and Taipei–Taoyuan. |
Finnair | Helsinki |
Gulf Air | Bahrain |
Hainan Airlines | Changsha and Haikou |
Iberia | Madrid |
Icelandair | Reykjavík–Keflavík |
Iran Air | Tehran–Imam Khomeini |
Japan Airlines | Tokyo–Haneda |
JetBlue | Boston and New York–JFK |
Kenya Airways | Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta |
KLM | Amsterdam |
KM Malta Airlines | Malta |
Korean Air | Seoul–Incheon |
Kuwait Airways | Kuwait City |
LATAM Brasil | São Paulo–Guarulhos |
Loganair | Derry, Dundee, Isle of Man, Kirkwall, and Sumburgh. |
LOT Polish Airlines | Warsaw–Chopin |
Lufthansa | Frankfurt, Munich Seasonal: Salzburg |
Malaysia Airlines | Kuala Lumpur–International |
Middle East Airlines | Beirut |
Oman Air | Muscat |
Qantas | Melbourne, Perth, Singapore, and Sydney. |
Qatar Airways | Doha |
Royal Air Maroc | Casablanca |
Royal Brunei Airlines | Bandar Seri Begawan and Dubai–International |
Royal Jordanian | Amman–Queen Alia |
RwandAir | Kigali |
Saudia | Jeddah, Neom Bay, and Riyadh. |
Scandinavian Airlines | Copenhagen, Oslo, Stavanger, and Stockholm–Arlanda. Seasonal: Bergen, Sälen-Trysil, and Tromsø. |
Shenzhen Airlines | Shenzhen |
Singapore Airlines | Singapore |
SriLankan Airlines | Colombo–Bandaranaike |
Swiss International Air Lines | Geneva and Zürich |
TAP Air Portugal | Lisbon |
TAROM | Bucharest–Otopeni |
Thai Airways | Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi |
Tianjin Airlines | Chongqing, Tianjin, and Xi’an. |
Tunisair | Tunis |
Turkish Airlines | Istanbul |
United Airlines | Chicago–O’Hare, Denver, Houston–Intercontinental, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco, and Washington–Dulles. |
Uzbekistan Airways | Tashkent |
Vietnam Airlines | Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City |
Virgin Atlantic | Antigua, Atlanta, Bangalore, Barbados, Boston, Delhi, Grenada, Johannesburg–O.R. Tambo, Lagos, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Montego Bay, Mumbai, Nassau, New York–JFK, Orlando, Providenciales, San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma, Shanghai–Pudong, St. Vincent–Argyle, Tampa, Tel Aviv, Toronto–Pearson, and Washington–Dulles. Seasonal: Cape Town, Dubai–International, Malé, and St. Lucia–Hewanorra. |
Vistara | Delhi |
Vueling | Barcelona and Paris–Orly |
WestJet | Calgary |
While Heathrow is undoubtedly the biggest, the UK has several other significant airports as well. These airports may serve fewer routes or amenities in comparison to LHR but are equally impressive. Follow the list and get to know other players in the country.
London’s second-largest airport, Gatwick, is also known for its passenger traffic. Over the years, the airport has grown from serving just 186,000 travelers to around 40 million passengers annually.
Airport Code | LGW |
Area | 1,670 acres |
Passenger Terminal & Gate | Two Terminals and 65 gates |
Total Passengers | 40,894,242 |
Airlines & Destinations | 50 Airlines and 220 Destinations |
The Manchester International Airport is the third-busiest airport in the United Kingdom. It manages an inflow of about 29 million passengers. Outside London Heathrow and Gatwick, Manchester is the only airport that can serve such a large audience of travelers. In addition, MAN has two full-length runways after LHR.
Airport Code | MAN |
Area | 1,400 acres |
Passenger Terminal | Three Terminals |
Total Passengers | Serves around 30 million passengers in a year. However, it has the capacity to serve around 50 million. |
Airlines & Destinations | 49 Airlines and 186 Destinations |
Stansted is another London Airport, processing over 28 million passengers each year, earning the name of the third-busiest airport in the state. It is the only airport that has significant runway capacity and operates flights to the European route network. The airport is known to welcome more visitors from Europe than any other airport.
Airport Code | STN |
Area | Spread over 68 km |
Passenger Terminal | One Terminal and 68 Gates |
Total Passengers | 28 million passengers every year. |
Airlines & Destinations | 25 Airlines and 194 Destinations |
Luton Airport also plays an important role in serving the London area. It is the major hub for low-cost airlines, providing affordable flights to over 16.5 million passengers. The airport has a speedy connection to central London, making it easily accessible, plus it is fully wheelchair accessible.
Airport Code | LTN |
Area | Spread over 2.7 km |
Passenger Terminal | One two-story terminal building |
Total Passengers | 16.5 million passengers |
Airlines & Destinations | 9 Airlines and 130 Destinations |
The London Heathrow International Airport stands as a testament to the UK’s biggest airport. Its vast size, impressive passenger traffic, and international connectivity make it not just the largest airport but one of the most important in the world. Whether you fly frequently or are an aviation enthusiast, Heathrow is truly awe-inspiring.
Plus, there is more to the list! The United Kingdom has multiple airports that can serve a large population of travelers or operate numerous airlines. For instance, London Gatwick and Manchester Airport are the second and third-largest airports in the country.
London Heathrow is the UK’s biggest airport in terms of surface area and passenger traffic.
Yes. If we talk about the size or the surface area, Heathrow is indeed bigger than Manchester Airport.
Yes. London Heathrow Airport was the Europe’s busiest airport in 2023 and fourth worldwide.
Being the largest in the country, London Heathrow offers flight services to 214 destinations in 84 countries with 89 airlines.
The top three busiest airports in the UK are 1. London Heathrow, 2. London Gatwick, and 3. Manchester Airport.
Again, London Heathrow is the biggest airport in terms of size. It is spread over 12.27 square kilometers.
The UK has around 15 international airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick International, Manchester, and London Stansted Airport.
London Heathrow, Manchester Airport, and Edinburgh Airport are the top airports on the list with 2 runways.
The Aviation Professionals and Manchester Airports Group (MAG) is the UK’s largest airport group.
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