View of the departure hall at the newly built Changi airport.
Singapore Changi Airport has been named as the World’s Best Airport by air travelers for the sixth consecutive year at the 2018 Skytrax World Airport Awards, held at Passenger Terminal EXPO in Stockholm, Sweden. This is the ninth time the Singapore airport has won the top international title since 2000. The airport was also named the best for leisure amenities.
The airport was also named the best for leisure amenities. Changi Airport is very focused on making the airport experience comfortable and convenient and continues to innovate with new product and services features.
What makes it the best in the world? Perhaps it’s the rooftop pool with a jacuzzi or its multitude of gardens: orchid, butterfly, sunflower, cactus, water lily, and “enchanted,” just to name a few. Or perhaps it’s the movie theater, XBox 360 station, or kinetic art installation of 1,216 aluminum and copper raindrops. Then there’s the food—so much food! Dozens of gourmet restaurants, six expansive dining halls including one that specializes in Singaporean street food, and one Hello Kitty Orchid Garden Café. That is, if travelers even need to waste time eating. Luxury and trendy stores are all around, like Vuitton, Saint Laurent, Hermès, and not one, but three different Adidas shops.
And it doesn’t look like Changi will relinquish its crown anytime soon. According to Bloomberg, it’s working on adding a fifth terminal as well as a “shopping-and-dining facility called the Jewel as passengers increase.”
The World’s Top 10 Airports
1 Singapore Changi
2 Seoul Incheon
3 Tokyo Haneda
4 Hong Kong
5 Doha Hamad
6 Munich
7 Nagoya Chubu Centrair
8 London Heathrow
9 Zurich
10 Frankfurt
Last year’s second-placed Haneda International Airport in Tokyo dropped a rank, swapping positions with Seoul’s Incheon International Airport. Hong Kong moved up a spot to fourth, while Munich Airport dropped two spots to sixth. Doha’s Hamad International Airport rounded out 2018’s top five.
Asia and Europe and well represented, but not a single North American airport or terminal is listed in the top ten. The best American airport is Denver, which came in at number 29. Yes, that means that the U.S. didn’t even crack the top 25—which is unsurprising to anyone who has ever set foot in an American airport mainly focused on practicality rather than the passenger experience.
The World’s Best Airport Terminals
1 London Heathrow – T2
2 Munich – T2
3 Singapore Changi – T3
4 London Heathrow – T5
5 Tokyo Haneda – Int’l
6 Madrid – T4
7 Dubai – T3
8 Paris CDG – T2-M
9 Mumbai – T2
10 Baku Heydar Aliyev Airport – T1
“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 travelers,” Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax, said in a statement accompanying the rankings.
The 2018 iteration of the annual World Airport Awards from research group Skytrax was based on 13.73 million survey questionnaires across more than 500 airports worldwide, taking place from August 2017 to February 2018, the firm said.
