Singapore News: Singapore's Changi Airport has once again topped Skytrax’s ranking of the world’s best airports, which was revealed at the 2023 World Airport Awards ceremony last week.
The airport was named number 1 in the world for eight consecutive years from 2013 to 2020, setting the record for the longest winning streak since the institution of the awards in 2000. However, due to the pandemic, the airport lost the crown to Hamad International Airport and Haneda Airport in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Singapore’s Changi Airport was built for USD 1.7 billion, while the airport’s hub was only built in 2014. Changi has a stunning, world’s highest 40-metre indoor waterfall, a butterfly garden, an IMAX theatre, and over 280 retail and eating establishments. It has a yearly passenger traffic of 85 million, serves more than 90 airlines, and links Singapore to 140 locations around the world.
Terminal 1 is immediately connected to the 10-storey shopping complex Jewel Changi Airport, which features seven themed gardens, and a forest valley with over 2,000 trees.
Doha’s Hamad International Airport cost USD 15 billion and was number 1 in 2021 and 2022. The airport features a water-drop-shaped mosque, two hotels, 12 lounges, big duty-free retail sections, and a health club with two squash courts, a gym, a sauna, and a swimming pool.
In the top ten list, Tokyo’s Haneda Airport has been ranked third, while Incheon International Airport was fourth. This year, Japan has two airports in the top ten, with Narita International Airport ranking ninth.
Other top airports included Paris (fifth), Istanbul (sixth), Munich (seventh), and Zurich (eighth). Except for Osaka’s Kansai International Airport, which was replaced by Spain’s Madrid-Barajas Airport (tenth), every one of the airports in last year’s top ten list returned.
Several variables were also included in the Skytrax poll to rank airports. Seoul’s Incheon International Airport has the “best airport employees in the world”, while China’s Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport has the “most upgraded airport”.
Skytrax uses systematic unbiased passenger surveys to assess traveler experiences across a range of airport facilities and key performance metrics, including check-in, arrivals, transfers, shopping, security, and immigration, as well as a departure at the gate for the select winners each year.