Heathrow Airport, the busiest airport in Europe by passenger volume in 2024, will begin construction of a new runway to “unlock even more of that connectivity, trade and economic growth for the United Kingdom,” according to a statement from the airport’s chief executive, Thomas Woldbye.

Istanbul Airport took second position, as it handled 84.4 million passengers last year, slightly less than Heathrow Airport’s 84.5 million. In December alone, nearly 7.2 million travellers passed through the hub. The good news comes amid the Keir Starmer government recently authorising the airport’s 49-billion-pound (USD 66 billion) expansion plan, as authorities endured years of legal struggle regarding the project.

While Heathrow Airport holds the annual record, Istanbul Airport actually surpassed Heathrow Airport in monthly passenger volume for much of the second half of 2025. This shift was driven by Istanbul Airport’s implementation of a world-first “triple runway” simultaneous operation system in April 2025, which increased the facility’s hourly capacity from 120 to 148 flights.

Unlike Heathrow Airport, which is physically limited by its current two runways and a 1,300-flight-per-day cap, Istanbul Airport’s purpose-built infrastructure allowed it to handle over 272,000 passengers on a single day in July, breaking the previous European daily record held by Heathrow.

This creates a narrative of “Old World vs New World” aviation, where Heathrow’s expansion is a race to regain a structural advantage that Istanbul Airport already possesses. Heathrow Airport claims that the project will boost capacity to up to 150 million passengers annually.

In Europe, where nations are divided between efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions and the demands of a vital industry whose demand has skyrocketed since the COVID-era lockdowns, this would be an uncommon growth.

With flights anticipated to begin within ten years, the runway would cost 21 billion pounds. The remaining privately funded investment would be used to modernise and expand the airport.

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“The commercial air drone market is currently still like the Wild West… exciting, and representing unprecedented economic opportunity for companies and organisations which are fast adopting this exceptional technology. However there will always be those who would flaunt laws and regulation to cause maximum disruption around the world. This particularly impacts on more vulnerable sectors such as airports, financial centres, energy facilities, stadiums and concert venues, etc., which require tailored defence strategies to protect against what is a new and real security challenge.

“The British Armed Forces have been world leaders in the use of drone technology, for both offence and defence, for many years, long before the recent adoption by the business world, and it is their techniques which are now being applied, particularly in counter drone strategies which utilise an ever evolving range of advanced technologies to detect, track, identify and defeat the threat posed by those who would abuse air drone technology for nefarious means.

“There are literally hundreds of counter drone products and manufacturers worldwide and the market is expanding on a daily basis making it extremely difficult to keep track… which is one reason why the rapid, often knee-jerk adoption of such technology in the face of media pressure, while sometimes providing a short-term fix, can often be a long term error of judgement and, in isolation of appropriate policies and procedures, is rarely effective.

“Our Counter Drone team, primarily ex-military, continually analyse this market to identify those systems which will be of most appropriate use to our clients in the application of both ‘soft’ and‘hard’ effect counter drone measures. Soft effect measures include intelligence-led threat identification, robust airspace management with commensurate risk management policies and legal procedures.  Hard measures are broken down into ‘Detect, Track and Identify’ and ‘Defeat’ which are subject to strict usage restrictions.

“One of the challenges for our clients in all sectors is the need to adopt drone technology always within a disciplined strategy which supports the organisation, ensures security and also ‘future proofs’ what is put in place.  The adoption of counter drone technology is no exception and so we would urge those organisations reacting to recent events to take a breath and think strategically.

“As far as criminals or ‘rogue’ drone operators are concerned… they will always exist… but their task will be made much more difficult by an increasingly informed business community, the putting in place of more sophisticated counter drone strategies, the implementation of the forthcoming ‘Drone Bill’ within the UK and the adoption of the new aerial drone Standards which were launched for public and peer group consultation in November 2018 by the International Standards Organisation (ISO). Their deadline for public responses on this consultation is 21 January 2019…only six days away.”

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October 18, 2016: The organisation representing the business district of La Défense in Paris, has launched a national UK advertising campaign to lure talent from London in the wake of Brexit.

Adverts will go live at Heathrow airport, Eurostar stations including St. Pancras International and Paris Gare du Nord, as well as across a range of national and financial publications. The campaign urges people to “join the frogs” and highlights Paris’s unrivalled vibrancy and quality of life combined with its position as a leading centre of business and innovation.

Although several cities have been attempting to court financial institutions and other professional services in the wake of Brexit, this is the first open advertising campaign of its kind.

Commenting on the launch Marie-Célie Guillaume, CEO of Defacto, Paris La Défense said: “Paris La Défense is a ready-made, thriving business ecosystem in the heart of Europe, which also offers unbeatable culture, vibrancy and quality of life; all vital factors when considering relocation.

“With the UK now looking likely to opt for a hard Brexit resulting in the loss of passporting rights, this advertising campaign is our way of rolling out the blue white and red carpet to the thousands of talented people and leading businesses looking for a new European base.”

As well as being attractive as a place to live and work, Paris offers a huge amount of office space, with 3.5 million square metres of office space in La Défense alone, including new towers that meet the highest international and environmental standards. By 2019, when the UK will potentially have left the EU following the March 2017 trigger of Article 50, there will also be new and renewed commercial space developed to accommodate projected growth post-Brexit.

Marie-Célie Guillaume continues: “The business case for Paris is clear; it is home to Europe’s largest business district, La Défense, with a strong existing network of professionals across financial services, technology, and professional services, world class office space and fantastic transport links to the rest of France and Europe.

“Just as compelling is the culture and lifestyle in Paris. When thinking about where to relocate after Brexit, business leaders need to ask themselves where their staff will want to live and work. Paris has a plethora of the best restaurants, museums, and galleries in the world, as well as great healthcare and quality educational provision including many international schools a stone’s throw from the business district. We believe these factors are vital in creating a financial centre for the future.”

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