Huge traveler survey rates Hong Kong as world’s best airport

London-based Skytrax, which conducts extensive passenger research to rate the quality of the air travel experience, has come out with its annual World Airport Awards (www.worldairportawards.com). The winner of the number one airport in the world for 2007 was Hong Kong International – although it was “a photo finish” among the top three, according to Skytrax. Tied for second place were Seoul Incheon and Singapore Changi. Rated fourth-best in the world and best in Europe was Munich Airport, followed in fifth place by Kuala Lumpur International. Rounding out the top 10 were Zurich (6), Amsterdam Schiphol (7), Vancouver (8), Japan’s Kansai International (9) and Madrid Barajas (10).


The results were based on surveys of more than 7.8 million air travelers worldwide, covering 170 airports, conducted over an 11-month period. Skytrax said passengers’ main priorities for a good airport are ease of usage and minimal waiting times. “Travelers expect security processing to incur some delays, but are disappointed – often annoyed – if the security facilities are inadequate,” said Skytrax CEO Edward Plaisted. “Waiting in line for 30 minutes to find only half the available security scanners open was a frequently stated complaint.” He said that was a big part of the reason that London Heathrow fell from 45th place in the 2006 survey to 103rd this year, and that Frankfurt dropped from 48th to 94th place.