Heathrow still Europe's busiest airport

[LONDON] London's Heathrow airport extended its lead as Europe's busiest hub last year after welcoming larger aircraft, as Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam saw their positions challenged by rapid growth at Istanbul Ataturk.

Heathrow drew 72.3 million passengers last year, a 3.4 per cent jump that outstripped both the 0.7 per cent gain at Paris Charles de Gaulle to 62 million passengers and third-ranked Frankfurt's 0.9 per cent advance to 58 million passengers. Istanbul reaped a 14 per cent surge to 51.3 million passengers, taking it past Madrid and almost level with Amsterdam Schiphol, with a growth rate that puts it within reach of supplanting the German hub by this time next year.

Istanbul, like hubs in the Persian Gulf, is winning an increasing share of the intercontinental transfer traffic that's been a mainstay of flights at West European airports. While London's appeal as an end destination and an inflow of jets such as the Airbus A380 helped Heathrow overcome the limitations of only two landing strips, Paris and Frankfurt suffered slowing growth for a third year amid restrictive night-flight times and taxes.