Asian airports are the best

SURVEY HONG KONG International Airport has been ranked the best airport in the world in an annual survey of passengers all over the world.

Other Asian airports, Singapore, Seoul and Kuala Lumpur, came second, third and fourth respectively.

The survey was carried out by research company Skytrax, which ranked the airports after collecting 8.2 million questionnaires from passengers over a 10-month period last year and this year.

Each airport was judged on shopping, dining, staff courtesy, baggage delivery and security waiting times.

Airports in Europe that made the top 10 include Munich (fifth), Copenhagen (seventh), Zurich (eight) and Helsinki (ninth).

Kansai in Japan came in sixth and Cape Town in South Africa 10th.

Missing from the list were any airports in the United States, but airports in San Francisco, Denver, Dallas and Atlanta improved slightly on previous years, coming in between 11th and 25th.

According to Skytrax, the airports that made the top 10 were purpose-built, 21st-century facilities that offer every conceivable product and service, including amenities such as free WiFi internet and speedy train services from the airport to the city centre.

For instance, at Seoul's seven-year-old Incheon airport, passengers can avail of an on-site hair salon, a children's playroom and a business centre with overseas shipping.

Munich airport offers miniature golf, a 60-seat cinema and cosmetic and physiotherapy services.

Skytrax says 1960s-era airports in the US are largely function-driven and have been slow to adopt a globally competitive approach.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times