Qatar's World Cup Gateway, Doha International Airport was named number 1 by Skytrax for the second year running. Photo / Darren Nunis, Unsplash
Qatar's World Cup Gateway, Doha International Airport was named number 1 by Skytrax for the second year running. Photo / Darren Nunis, Unsplash
The world's best 100 airports have been revealed in the annual Skytrax awards. This year there have been a couple of big winners but little movement in the rankings.
While there have been big changes in the number of passengers flying through each airport, the top three spots remain unchanged.
Singapore's Changi landed in bronze medal position for a second year, also claiming awards for Best Airport Dining and Best Airport Staff service.
Second best airport, also no change, was Tokyo's Haneda Airport. Japan's largest airport was also named the Best Domestic Airport and best Accessible Facilities at an airport.
However it was Doha's Hamad airport that retained the top spot, still soaring off last year's top-ranking position.
Japan's well-connected Tokyo Narita airport held onto its ranking as third best airport. Photo / Unsplash
Skytrax CEO Edward Plaisted offered his congratulations to the Qatari airport for the second year running.
"Whilst airports worldwide continued to be impacted by the pandemic throughout 2021, Hamad International Airport served 17.1 million passengers in 2021 and continued with its expansion plans," said Plaisted.
Doha's Hamad airport retained the top spot. Photo / Getty Images
As the gateway to Qatar and the host airport for the Fifa World Cup, the airport is expected to see an additional 12 million soccer-mad fans pass through the terminals. The airport which is an official partner of the tournament says it will be laying on an additional 180 daily services over November to shuttle sports fans in, from neighbouring countries.
Badr Mohammed Al-Meer, COO of HIA welcomed the news as "adding another milestone achievement to HIA's history".
Singapore Changi, a scenic favourite for airport dining options. landed in third place. Photo / Sergey Zolkin, Unsplash
One of the biggest improvements was seen by the freshly remodelled Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris. The city's largest airport and host sponsor of the Skytrax awards at the ADP Passenger Terminal EXPO in Versailles soared in the awards.
Helsinki Airport, Finland. Photo / Getty Images
Paris CDG climbed nine places in spite of the airport scrapping its plans for a 40-million-passenger extension and substantial moves to reduce the country's reliance on air travel over public transport.
The other big winner was Istanbul Airport which won Best Airport Shopping and as the Most Family Friendly Airport, climbing nine places into 8th place.
Kiwi airports didn't fare as well. Auckland slipped five places to 40th in the league table. Christchurch stayed stable at 79th.
The awards which are in their twenty third year compare the largest 500 airports in the world, surveying passengers between September and May each year on criteria including cleanliness, luggage handling and "staff attitude" at customs and immigration.
The Skytrax 20 best airports 2022
1 Doha Hamad 2 Tokyo Haneda 3 Singapore Changi 4 Tokyo Narita ↑1 5 Seoul Incheon ↓1 6 Paris Charles De Gaulle ↑9 7 Munich ↓1 8 Istanbul ↑9 9 Zurich ↓2 10 Kansai ↓1 11 Helsinki-Vantaa Airport ↑2 12 Central Japan International Airport ↑1 13 London Heathrow Airport ↓5 14 Dubai International Airport ↑5 15 Amsterdam Schiphol Airport ↓3 16 Madrid-Barajas Airport ↑4 17 Copenhagen Airport ↑1 18 Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport ↓4 19 Vienna International Airport ↑4 20 Hong Kong International Airport ↓5
