If you’re flying international in the next 12 months, you might want to think about routing that trip through one of Asia’s top airports.
Once again the region’s aviation hubs are leading the world when it comes to passenger satisfaction, scooping top prizes in the prestigious annual Skytrax World Airport Awards.
Maintaining its position at the top of that chart for an amazing sixth year in a row is Singapore’s Changi Airport.
The city-state’s gleaming facilities fended off stiff competition from the likes of Doha’s Hamad International and Hong Kong’s International Airport.
“To be voted the World’s Best Airport for the sixth consecutive year is a fabulous achievement for Changi Airport, and this award yet again demonstrates the airport’s popularity with international air travellers,” Edward Plaisted, CEO of UK-based Skytrax, said in a statement.
The annual awards, which were held in Stockholm on Wednesday, are based on millions of airport passenger surveys and have been dubbed “the Oscars of the aviation industry.”
Changi Airport, which celebrated serving 60 million passengers from almost 100 countries across the world in 2017, has 5,000 arrivals and departures a week, connecting customers to over 200 destinations.
Changi Airport in Singapore. Picture: Supplied
Amenities on offer include two 24-hour movie theatres screening the latest blockbusters for free, a rooftop swimming pool and a sunflower garden that features several varieties of sunflowers grown in the airport’s on-site nursery.
This is the ninth time Changi Airport has received the “world’s best airport” title at the annual awards in the past two decades.
While there were no new entries among the Top 10, Seoul’s Incheon International Airport moved up one place to No. 2, while last year’s second place-holder Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) dropped to No. 3, keeping Asia’s stranglehold on the top slots.
Cape Town International Airport won an award in the category for Best Airport in the African region.
London's Heathrow Airport was number 1 for the category of World's Best Airport for shopping, while Taiwan's Taoyuan Airport was voted the best airport for immigration and Durban's King Shaka Airport was named the Best Regional Airport in Africa.
Doha’s Hamad International Airport progressed to fifth place after coming in at No. 6 in 2017, while Munich Airport dropped from fourth to sixth place.
The full results of the awards can be found on Skytrax's
1. Singapore Changi Airport
2. Incheon International Airport (Seoul, South Korea)
3. Tokyo International Airport (Haneda)
4. Hong Kong International Airport (Hong Kong)
5. Hamad International Airport (Doha, Qatar)
6. Munich Airport (Germany)
7. Chubu Centrair Nagoya (Japan)
8. London Heathrow Airport (England)
9. Zurich Airport (Switzerland)
10. Frankfurt Airport (Germany)