For me, holidays but also a business trip starts with entering the airport. And especially, if you are often traveling, an airport’s quality massively contributes to your travel experience. That’s why we wanted to know which are the best airports in the world. As a result, we put together a list of the world’s top 10 best airports that can help you increase the probability of an enjoyable trip.
World’s Best Airports — How we Ranked?
When assessing airports, we considered three aspects that —from our point of view— are essential for an enjoyable customer experience:
- On-time performance: Departing and arriving on time is one of the essential quality factors. Therefore, we assessed airports according to their punctuality.
- Service Quality: Based on surveys, this aspect includes everything from customer service to waiting times and cleanliness.
- Food & Shops: Again, based on surveys, this aspect analyzed the quality and quantity of an airport’s food and shops offering.
The Results: World’s Best Airports — The Ultimate top 10
So let’s get right into it and present the world’s best airports.
#10 — Viracopos/Campinas Airport (Capinas, Brazil)
Rating
We kick off the list of the world’s best airports with an airport from South America: Campinas Airport. I have to admit that I’ve never heard of that airport before. However, the airport achieved excellent scores across all assessed areas: A top on-time performance of 8.4, outstanding service quality of 8.2, and solid in terms of food and shops. Overall, the airports achieved a score of 8.25 out of 10 possible points.
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Viracopos/Campinas Airport is located in the southern part of Brazil. The IATA code of the airport is VCP. It’s a mid-sized airport handling ~10 mils. passengers (pre-COVID). Viracopos Airport has one runway and serves as a hub for Azul Airlines and LATAM Cargo. In terms of cargo, the airport operated 216,000 metric tonnes in 2019.
#9 Tenerife North Airport (Tenerife, Spain)
Ranking
Tenerife South Airport showed excellent results across all analyzed areas. The airport has a good on-time performance and food & shops offering with a score of 8.2 in both areas. Its service quality is even better with 8.4. Overall, the airport achieves a score of 8.26.
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Tenerife South Airport is the larger of Tenerife’s two airports. The airport has the IATA code TFS. Similar to Viracopos Airport, Tenerife South Airport is a medium-sized airport, serving some 11 mils. passengers (pre-COVID). Since Tenerife is a popular European holiday destination, more than 50 predominantly European airlines serve the airport.
#8 — Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi Airport (Hyderabad, India)
Rating
Here’s another airport that definitely surprised me. With Hyderabad, an airline from India made it to the top 10 and ranked eight among the world’s best airports. Hyderabad can be proud of its outstanding service quality of 9.0. On top of that, food & shops and on-time performance show solid values of 8.0 and 7.8. Overall, the airport achieves a score of 8.27 of 10 possible points.
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Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, the official name of Hyderabad Airport, is located on India’s east coast. The IATA code of the airport is HYD. Hyderabad Airport has one passenger and one cargo terminal as well as two runways. The airport served some 20 million passengers in pre-COVID time. In addition, the airport serves as a hub for airlines, such as Indigo, Spicejet, or AllianceAir.
#7 — Singapore Changi Airport (Singapore)
Ranking
And here we go with an airport I definitely did expect to see on the list of the world’s best airports. Actually, I expected Singapore’s Changi Airport even to rank higher. The airport can be proud of its remarkable service quality of 9.2 out of 10 possible points. Additionally, food & shops are also rated very good whereas on-time performance shows a solid result. Overall, the airport achieves 8.27 out of 10 possible points.
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Changi Airport is Singapore’s central airport and a major Asian aviation hub. The airport has the IATA code SIN. Changi Airport handled almost 70 million passengers in 2019 and 2 million freight tonnes. More than 80 passenger airlines and 40 cargo airlines operate flights to Singapore’s hub. Moreover, the airport serves as the hub for Singapore Airlines, Scoot, and Jetstar Asia.
#6 — Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport (Moscow, Russia)
Rating
Sheremetyevo, Moscow’s largest airport, ranks sixth among the world’s best airports. The airport scored excellent results across all assessed areas. The airport has an excellent on-time performance of 8.5 and service quality of 8.1, and food & shops of 8.0. Overall, Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport achieves 8.35 out of 10 possible points.
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Sheremetyevo is one of four airports in Moscow and Russia’s busiest airport. The airport has the IATA code SVO. The airport was originally built as a military airport and converted to a commercial airport in 1959. In 2019, the airport handled almost 50 million passengers. In addition, 40 passenger airlines operate flights to Sheremetyevo. Additionally, the airport serves as a hub for Aeroflot, Nordwind Airlines, Pobeda, and Rossiya.
The Top 5 — World’s Best Airports
#5 — Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport (Gdansk, Poland)
Rating
Here’s another airport that somehow surprised me. Gdansk Airport achieved overall good results and therefore ranks fifth. The airline can be proud of the excellent service quality of 8.7 and food & shops of 8.5. Additionally, in terms of on-time performance, the airport also shows a solid result of 8.2. Overall, Gdansk Airport achieves a score of 8.35 out of 10 possible points.
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Gdansk Airport is Poland’s third-largest airport. The airport has the IATA code GDN. With 5.4 million passengers in 2019, it’s a rather small airport and the smallest airport among the top 10. Some 20 airlines, mainly from Europe, operate flights to Gdansk.
#4 — Afonso Pena International Airport (Curitiba, Brazil)
Rating
We are getting closer to the top 3 of the world’s best airports. Ranked fourth and close to the trophies, we have Alfonso Pena Airport in Curitiba. And one more time I have to admit that I never heard of the airport before. Nevertheless, the airport shows solid results across all sectors. Overall, the airport achieves a score of 8.37 out of 10 possible points.
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Curitiba Airport is located in Brazil’s south. The airport has the IATA code CWB. Similar to Gdansk, the airport is rather small. In 2019, 6.5 million passengers traveled through Curitiba. The airport is heavily affected by unstable weather conditions, like fog and smog in the morning. Azul, Gol, and LATAM operate flights to the airport together with six additional cargo airlines.
The Top 3 — World’s Best Airports
#3 — Athens International Airport (Athens, Greece)
Rating
And here we go with the top 3. We start the creme-de-la-creme of the world’s airport with Athens International Airport. I was thrilled when I saw Athen’s amazing performance in service quality (9.0) and food & shops offering (8.7). And since I’ve traveled to Athens very often, I can absolutely agree with the results. Unfortunately, the on-time performance does not keep up with the other two aspects. Overall, the airport achieves 8.38 out of 10 possible points.
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Athens Airport is located in Greece’s capital and Greece’s biggest airport at the same time. The airport has the IATA code ATH. With some 25 million passengers in 2019, the airport was of Europe’s top 30 busiest airports. Roughly 70 airlines from Europe, Asia, and America operate flights to Athens Airport. Moreover, the airport serves as a hub for Aegean Airlines, Olympic Air, Ryanair, and Sky Express.
#2 — Tokyo International Airport (Tokyo, Japan)
Rating
And here comes the silver medal — and goes straight to Japan. Tokyo International Airport achieved slightly better results than Athens and can take the silver medal. With equally strong results across all sectors, Tokyo achieves an overall performance of 8.39 out of 10 possible points.
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Tokyo International Airport, known as Haneda Airport, is one of Tokyo’s two main airports. The airport has the IATA code HND. The airport commenced operations in 1931 and handled almost 90 million passengers in 2018. Accordingly, it is one of the world’s best airports and the world’s 4th busiest airport. In addition, the airport is considered the world’s cleanest domestic airport. The airport serves as a hub for Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airlines, Skymark Airlines, Air Do, and Solaseed Air.
#1 — Hamad International Airport (Doha, Qatar)
Rating
Drumroll — here’s the world’s best airport. And the gold medal goes to Hamad International Airport in Doha. Doha Airport achieved a result that is only slightly better than Tokyo Haneda. However, when looking at the rounded figures, the airports’ results look even equal. Overall, Hamad International Airport achieved a result of 8.39 out of 10 possible points.
Interesting side info: When looking at the world’s best airlines, it is amazing to see that Qatar Airways is rated as the world’s best airline. That means that Qatar’s main airport and flag carrier won the gold medal.
Base data
Hamad International Airport is Qatar’s sole international airport. The airport has the IATA code DOH. The airport is super new and commenced operations in 2014. It serves as a hub for Qatar Airways. Hamad International Airport has two runways and handled almost 40 million passengers in 2019.
Which Airport do you Consider as the World’s Best Airport?
We would love to get your feedback. So leave a comment and let us know which airport you consider the world’s best airport.
