News: Move Over Heathrow, Dubai Airport Claims Number One Spot

Heathrow hosted 68.1 million international passengers in 2014, up 1.2 percent, a Heathrow spokeswoman said. British politicians and authorities have been wrangling for years over how to increase airport capacity near London but have not reached a decision.

A commission is due to make final proposals by this summer, choosing from these three options: a third runway at Heathrow, an extension to an existing Heathrow runway, or a second runway at Gatwick Airport.

"Britain has benefited from being home to the world's largest port or airport for the last 350 years. But lack of capacity at Heathrow means we have inevitably lost our crown to Dubai," the Heathrow spokeswoman said.

Dubai Airports, which operate Dubai International, forecast this year's traffic would jump to 79 million passengers, helped by the planned opening of the new Concourse D, which would boost annual capacity to 90 million.