Significant growth in passenger volumes has required this airport to invest billions of pounds in new development projects
Heathrow held its position as the busiest airport in Europe in 2024, and looks on track to do the same with “Billion Dollar” routes like New York JFK to Heathrow still one of the most popular flight routes in the world.
However, 2025 is poised to see new travel demands cause a shift in the world’s busiest flight paths and airports. In particular, flights and airports in Asia are rising in passenger volumes. In fact last year, two of the busiest flight paths in the world were in Asia: Hong Kong to Taipei ranking first busiest and Seoul Incheon to Tokyo Narita ranking third busiest. According to OAC, the aviation data consultancy group, Asia travel will only continue to rise as the region continues its post-pandemic recovery.
That said, it’s no surprise that one of the busiest airports in the world (even surpassing Heathrow) is based in Asia.
Tokyo International (Haneda) Airport was the third busiest airport in the world in 2024, according to OAG. Haneda held its third place position from 2023, falling behind Dubai International Airport and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport which ranked first and second. In the same list of OAG’s Top 10 Busiest Global Airports by Seats, Heathrow came in at fifth place.
It should be noted that OAG’s list of Top 10 Busiest Global Airports is calculated using total frequency data for both domestic and international flights. When ranked by frequency data for international flights alone, Heathrow came in at the 2nd busiest airport in the world last year.
Nevertheless, 2024 was a busy year for Haneda airport, with 4.2 million seats. Tokyo has two international airports: Haneda airport and Narita airport. Of the two, Haneda is located closer to downtown Tokyo while Narita is located much farther out of the city. Despite both airports handling significant volumes of international travellers, Haneda is the primary airport for domestic travellers.
Haneda Airport opened in 1955, but has undergone significant expansion projects over the years. Increasing passenger traffic has continually necessitated expansions of the airport, including the opening of a new international passenger terminal in 2010 and a subsequent £320 million Terminal 2 extension to better service international flights.
Additionally, a new high-speed train connecting Haneda airport to the Tokyo city centre is set to open in 2031. The project is worth an estimated ¥280 billion (approximately £1.4 billion) and will allow passengers to travel directly from Tokyo station to Haneda airport in 18 minutes.