Ranked: 100 best airports in the world

The best airports in the world have been named in the latest World Airport Awards. We take a look at the results

The best airport in the world is Doha’s Hamad International Airport in Qatar. The 2023 champion and 12-time previous winner, Singapore Changi Airport – famed for The Jewel – a glass circular building with 280 restaurants and stores and a multi-story circular indoor waterfall surrounded by terraced gardens – came second in the global ranking but was still named the best airport in Asia.

Rounding out the top five were Seoul Incheon International Airport, the largest airport in South Korea and one of the world’s busiest airports; Tokyo Haneda International Airport, Japan’s busiest airport just 30 minutes from central Tokyo; and Tokyo Narita Airport, an international airport serving the greater Tokyo area in Japan.

The World Airport Awards began in 1999 when Skytrax launched its first global airport customer satisfaction survey. The awards, which assess customer service and facilities across 597 airports with input from over 100 nationalities of airport customers, are widely regarded as the quality benchmark for the airport industry.

The survey’s methodology includes evaluating traveller experiences across 44 key indicators, including the check-in experience, queuing times, ease of transfer, shopping options, security and safety standards and baggage delivery times, among other passenger facilities and services.

What makes Doha the world’s best airport?

This is the second time that Hamad International Airport – the international airport for Doha, the capital city of Qatar – has taken the top spot after previously ranking number one in 2021 when it was recognised for its outstanding facilities, comfort, cleanliness, shopping, food and beverage options, staff service and security/immigration.

This year, the airport has won global recognition for its tropical gardens, The Orchard, which opened in 2023. The sprawling indoor gardens occupy 6,000 square meters and feature over 300 trees and 25,000 plants sourced from around the globe.

Hamad International Airport, which is a hub for national airline Qatar Airways, serves over 45 million passengers – a 31% increase compared to the previous year.

The airport also won praise for its array of luxury shopping and dining experiences. As such, it also won the award for the World’s Best Airport Shopping plus it was named the Best Airport in the Middle East for the 10th year in a row.

Regional top performers

Other highlights from the report include a host of Japanese airports. Tokyo Narita Airport was recognised for its customer service and named the World’s Best Airport Staff and Best Airport Staff in Asia. New Chitose Airport was voted the World’s Most Improved Airport while Chubu Centrair International Airport in Nagoya won the World’s Best Regional Airport award. Finally, Kansai International Airport was recognised for the World’s Best Airport Baggage Delivery.

In Italy, Rome Fiumicino Airport picked up the award for the World’s Best Airport Security Processing, while across the pond in New York, Terminal A, Newark Liberty Airport was crowned the World’s Best New Airport Terminal.

In France, Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport was praised for its Terminal 3 facility which was anointed the World’s Best Low-Cost Terminal. Paris Charles de Gaulle was also named Best Airport in Europe for a second successive year. London Heathrow in the UK was ranked 21st, London Gatwick 48th and London City 81st.

Turkey’s Istanbul Airport was voted the World’s Best Airport Dining Experience and the Best Airport in Southern Europe; Finland’s Helsinki Vantaa Airport was named the Best Airport in Northern Europe; and Budapest Airport in Hungary was once again named the Best Airport in Eastern Europe.

Cape Town Airport was named the Best Airport in Africa. Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport won the award for Best Airport in China and Delhi International Airport is the Best Airport in India and South Asia.

Melbourne Airport was named the Best Airport in Australia and the Pacific for the second successive year. Bogota El Dorado Airport, Colombia, won Best Airport in South America and Vancouver International Airport, Canada, the Best Airport in North America.

Complete ranking: 100 best airports in the world

1. Doha Hamad
2. Singapore Changi
3. Seoul Incheon
4. Tokyo Haneda
5. Tokyo Narita
6. Paris CDG
7. Dubai
8. Munich
9. Zurich
10. Istanbul
11. Hong Kong
12. Rome Fiumicino
13. Vienna
14. Helsinki-Vantaa
15. Madrid Barajas
16. Centrair Nagoya
17. Vancouver
18. Kansai
19. Melbourne
20. Copenhagen

21. London Heathrow
22. Bahrain
23. Amsterdam Schiphol
24. Seattle-Tacoma
25. Guangzhou
26. Fukuoka
27. Haikou Meilan
28. Jakarta
29. Houston Hobby
30. Paris Orly
31. Dusseldorf
32. Brisbane
33. New York LGA
34. Frankfurt
35. Riyadh
36. Delhi
37. Shenzhen
38. Houston George Bush
39. Bogota
40. Muscat

41. Quito
42. Hamburg
43. Barcelona
44. Shanghai Hongqiao
45. Auckland
46. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky
47. San Francisco
48. London Gatwick
49. New Chitose
50. Medina
51. Dammam
52. Perth
53. Montréal
54. Cape Town
55. Sydney
56. Jeddah
57. Baku
58. Bangkok Suvarnabhumi
59. Bangalore
60. Los Angeles

61. Hyderabad
62. Abu Dhabi
63. Toronto Pearson
64. Dallas/Fort Worth
65. Adelaide
66. Taiwan Taoyuan
67. Athens
68. Gold Coast
69. Denver
70. Atlanta
71. Kuala Lumpur
72. Durban King Shaka
73. Chengdu Tianfu
74. Denpasar Bali
75. Oslo
76. Seoul Gimpo
77. Budapest
78. Osaka Itami
79. Phoenix Sky Harbor
80. Porto

81. Stockholm Arlanda
82. London City
83. Johannesburg
84. Málaga
85. Malta
86. Minneapolis St.Paul
87. Lyon
88. Milan Malpensa
89. Cologne / Bonn
90. Lisbon
91. Okinawa
92. Goa Manohar
93. New York JFK
94. Da Nang
95. Mumbai
96. Hanoi Noi Bai
97. Boston Logan
98. Changsha
99. Detroit
100. Berlin Brandenburg

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Lead image: Strikernia/Shutterstock