travel

South Korea, Singapore nab top spot in world’s best airport ranking

March 04, 2016

Slide attraction at Singapore's Changi Airport, which has been named one of the top three airports in the world. – AFP/Relaxnews pic, March 4, 2016.Asia can claim bragging rights to being home to the world's best airports, with South Korea, Singapore, and China taking the top three spots in a new airport ranking.

Results of the 2015 Airport Service Quality Awards suggest that flyers passing through the major hubs in Asia are more likely to be satisfied with their airport experience than other parts of the world.

In the category of airports with more than 40 million passengers, Korea's Incheon Airport and Singapore Changi tied for first place; Shanghai Pudong and Beijing tied for second; and Guangzhou Baiyun placed third.

Flyers were asked to rate airports in categories such as access, check-in, security, facilities, food and beverage and dining.

The Airport Service Quality awards is organised by the Airports Council International – and is hardly the only one of its kind.

Lists ranking the world's best airports are also released by groups like Skytrax and Sleeping in Airports, which compile the results based on surveys.

The ASQ awards, however, is touted as the only global airport survey that polls passengers while they're at the airport. For the 2015 edition of the awards, about 500,000 passengers were interviewed prior to boarding their flight at over 300 airports in 80 countries last year.

New in 2015, the results have been expanded to break down winners by size and region.

Here are some of the winners:

Best airports over 40 million passengers a year

First place (tie): Seoul Incheon; Singapore
Second place (tie): Beijing; Shanghai Pudong
Third place: Guangzhou Baiyun

Best Airport by Region (over 2 million passengers per year)

North America

First place: Indianapolis
Second place (tie): Dallas Love Field; Grand Rapids; Jacksonville; Ottawa; Tampa
Third place (tie): Austin; Detroit; Sacramento; San Antonio; Toronto Billy Bishop

Africa
First place: Mauritius
Second place (tie): Cape Town; Durban
Third place: Johannesburg

Asia-Pacific
First place (tie): Seoul Incheon; Singapore
Second place (tie): Beijing; Mumbai; New Delhi; Sanya Phoenix; Shanghai Pudong
Third place (tie): Guangzhou Baiyun; Taiwan Taoyuan; Tianjin Binhai

Europe
First place (tie): Moscow Sheremetyevo; Pulkovo; Sochi
Second place (tie): Dublin; Malta; Prague; Zurich
Third place (tie): Copenhagen; Keflavik; London Heathrow; Porto; Vienna

Middle East
First place: Amman
Second place (tie): Abu Dhabi; Doha
Third place (tie): Dammam; Dubai; Tel Aviv

Latin America-Caribbean
First place: Guayaquil
Second place: Quito
Third place: Punta Cana. – AFP/Relaxnews, March 4, 2016.