Business Maverick
Singapore loses ‘World’s Best Airport’ crown to Qatar
The race for the “world’s best airport” crown has been a two-horse affair in recent years, with Doha’s Hamad International and Singapore Changi leading the pack.
This year the title has switched, with 12-time winner Singapore being edged out of the top spot by its Middle Eastern rival in the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2024.
In a strong showing for Asia, Seoul Incheon bagged third place — also being named 2024’s most family friendly airport — while Tokyo’s twin facilities of Haneda and Narita took fourth and fifth spots.
Hong Kong airport saw a significant boost, up 22 positions to 11th place after the city shook off its Covid-19 hangover and passenger numbers rose.
Once again US airports were nowhere to be seen near the top of the table, with the highest ranked, Seattle-Tacoma, slipping six places to 24.
Europe continued to have a strong showing, with Paris Charles de Gaulle, Munich, Zurich and Istanbul all maintaining positions in the top 10.
In other moves:
- New York’s JFK fell five places to 93rd; LaGuardia rose from 57 to 33
- Melbourne remained the top ranked Australian airport, steady in 19th place
- London Heathrow jumped one spot to 21st, while Gatwick was up seven to 48
- Japan’s Okinawa was the biggest climber, from 199th to 91st position
“This year HIA celebrates its milestone 10th year of operations and we are truly honoured that passengers have voted us Best Airport in the World for a third time,” said Qatar Airways group CEO Badr Al Meer.
The Skytrax World Airport Awards are determined by customer satisfaction surveys.
These are the World’s Best Airports of 2024, alongside last year’s rankings:
- Doha Hamad (2)
- Singapore Changi (1)
- Seoul Incheon (4)
- Tokyo Haneda (3)
- Tokyo Narita (9)
- Paris CDG (5)
- Dubai (17)
- Munich (7)
- Zurich (8)
- Istanbul (6)
- Hong Kong (33)
- Rome Fiumicino (13
- Vienna (11)
- Helsinki-Vantaa (12)
- Madrid-Barajas (10)
- Centrair Nagoya (16)
- Vancouver (20)
- Kansai (15)
- Melbourne (19)
- Copenhagen (14)
Wow, the bribes must have been enormous for CDG to get into the top 10.
In my opinion it is far worse than Madrid at No 15
Having travelled frequently through 10 of those on the list, I can’t fathom Charles de Gaulle’s ranking. I find it the least friendly of all the airports I’ve been through. Lack of information signs, unfriendly airport officials, especially towards English speakers and generally a real challenge to get through here. I avoid CDG at all costs.
I am in no way a seasoned traveler but for any airport to top Istanbul must indeed be remarkable.