Renowned aviation rating firm SkyTrax has dipped into over 550 of the busiest terminals around the world to compile its annual ranking of the world’s best airports. As always, the awards are primarily based on customer input rather than influenced by the actual airports or airlines themselves, giving the awards certain reliability – at least on the surface – that helps dial in a genuine search for the best airport in the world.
And what is the best airport in the world? For 2022, it seems to be Hamad International Airport in Qatar, which came in at the top slot for a second consecutive year after first overtaking Singapore Changi in 2021. Qatar’s flagship airport, which replaced the city’s old airport back in 2014, is obviously the hub for Qatar Airways which just recorded the airline’s most profitable year in its 25 years of service. Considering how busy the world airport industry has been, both in terms of domestic and international flights, that type of profitability is ridiculous.
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SkyTrax’s methodology in putting together the World’s Best Airports list is vague at best, but it’s reported the firm use unbiased data sourced from a number of surveys with all submission voluntary. This ensures no financial incentives for airports or passengers and no third-party involvement in data collection. Over the years, this has been enough to satisfy the aviation industry considering the survey’s compromise a fairly comprehensive scope of what makes an airport, from terminal comfort, check-in process, taxi availability and service of on-ground airport staff to all-important hygiene standards, ease of security check-points and other performance indicators that are detailed here.
In all honesty, there’s not much change in this list over last year except for some slight shuffling in the rankings. As expected, a lot of the major airports dotted across Asia ended up ranking high, with Tokyo’s slick Haneda Airport – AKA Tokyo International Airport – grabbing the no. 2 slot in the main list while also clocking in as the best airport in Asia and the world’s cleanest airport.
Singapore Changi Airport rounds out the top three, dropping slightly after holding the top position for several years between 2013 and 2020. Although the increasingly ambitious airport was named as the hub with the best staff in the world as well as the best dining options.
Tokyo was represented well again as Narita International Airport slid in at no. 4 while South Korea rounds out the top five with Seoul’s Incheon International Airport at no. 5.
Europe starts to appear further down the list with the continent’s highest-ranking airport being Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport at no. 6. As for Australia, well Brisbane is surprisingly our highest-rated airport, jumping ten places over last year from no. 32 to no. 22.
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Wondering how far down the USA is? The highest-rated US airport is Seattle-Tacoma coming in at no. 27 after last year finding its way much further down the list at no. 53. The impressive jump up the rankings hasn’t been detailed by the award panel, yet it’s not hard to imagine somewhere like Seattle having a much cleaner and more efficient airport than the notoriously chaotic scenes of LAX and JFK.
I’m not going to exhaust your attention by listing all 100 airports – here’s the full list – but here’s the top 20 in case you want to get a better idea of what airports are really nailing it when it comes to entire on-ground passenger experience in 2022.
The World Airport Awards website also includes more granular categories like Best Airport Shopping and Best Baggage Delivery so it’s worth taking the time to scroll through the various lists if you’ve got some long layovers coming up.
There also may be other considerations when it comes to deciding upon the world’s best airport, like the quality of any airport hotel, proximity to a regional airport or a domestic airport, or just whatever other factors help contribute to making an aviation hub the most efficient and busiest airport in the world.
The Best Airport In The World – Top 20 [2022]
- Hamad International Airport (Qatar)
- Tokyo Haneda International Airport (Japan)
- Singapore Changi Airport (Singapore)
- Tokyo Narita Airport (Japan)
- Incheon International Airport (South Korea)
- Paries Charles de Gaulle Airport (Paris)
- Munich Airport (Germany)
- Istanbul Airport (Turkey)
- Zurich Airport (Switzerland)
- Kansai International Airport (Japan)
- Helsinki-Vantaa (Finland)
- Centrair Nagoya (Japan)
- London Heathrow (United Kingdom)
- Dubai International Airport (UAE)
- Amsterdam Schiphol (Netherlands)
- Madrid Barajas (Spain)
- Copenhagen Airport (Denmark)
- Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (China)
- Vienna International Airport (Austria)
- Hong Kong International Airport (Hong Kong)
