Istanbul named world’s most connected airport as Apac hubs climb rankings

[SINGAPORE] Istanbul Airport has topped the ranking of the world’s most connected airports for 2026, displacing London Heathrow Airport, and the Asia-Pacific has emerged as the region with the most hubs in the top 20.

The UK-based travel data provider OAG’s Megahubs 2026 noted in its report that Istanbul is the eighth-busiest airport in the world in capacity terms, but leads with 337 global destinations.

London Heathrow fell to second place as its potential connections fell by 6 per cent as a result of the disruptions in Middle East flights; its capacity to that region was down a quarter from last year.

OAG analysed flight data for the world’s 100 largest airports based on total scheduled seats for the 12 months ended August 2026, and calculated the number of possible connections between inbound and outbound flights within a six-hour window.

Asia on the up

Four Asia-Pacific airports moved up the ranking this year: Tokyo Haneda to eight from ninth, Shanghai Pudong to 14th from 19th, Guangzhou’s Baiyun International to 19th from 36th, and Hong Kong International to 20th from 22nd. The presence of three Chinese hubs means that China may have “finally shaken off the residual effects of the pandemic”, said OAG.

The highest ranked air hub in Asia was Kuala Lumpur International Airport, which retained its fourth position.

OAG noted that while its number of potential connections was lower than in 2025, there was a rise in destinations served, from 151 to 154. Its overall capacity was up 6.9 per cent – the highest among its peers, save for Hanoi International Airport, which grew its capacity by 11.8 per cent.

Singapore’s Changi Airport retained its 11th spot, ahead of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport and below Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson.

The Asia-Pacific has the largest number of hubs in the top 20 ranking with eight, while Europe, the Middle East, and Africa have six, North America has five and Latin America has one.

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OAG also published a similar connectivity ranking for the top 25 low-cost hubs. The first five positions were taken by Kuala Lumpur, Seoul Incheon, Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen, Barcelona and Singapore.

Singapore moved to fifth from 10th position, thanks to an increase in both destinations served and potential low-cost carrier connections.

The Asia-Pacific was even more well represented in the low-cost ranking, with 16 airports out of the top 25. Eight were in South-east Asia, as OAG notes low-cost carriers account for 51 per cent of capacity in the region, higher than the global average of 34 per cent.