Singapore loses ‘world’s best airport’ title, Melbourne top in Australia
By Craig Platt
The race to be crowned the world’s best airport 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 – 12-time winner Singapore has been edged out of the top spot by its Middle Eastern rival in the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2024.
Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar, has knocked off Singapore’s Changi for the top spot in the World Airline Awards.Credit: iStock
“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 chief executive officer Badr Al Meer.
The awards are based on customer satisfaction surveys and cover 550 airports worldwide.
In a strong showing for Asia, Seoul Incheon bagged third place and was also 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.
The highest-ranked Australian airport was Melbourne, which remained unchanged from last year in 19th spot. Brisbane was next highest at 32nd, despite dropping nine places from its 2023 position, followed by Perth at 52nd (up six) and Sydney at 55th (down six).
Melbourne Airport was ranked the best in Australia.Credit: Scott McNaughton
Melbourne also took out the gong for Best Airport in Australia and the Pacific for the fourth time. Melbourne Airport chief executive Lorie Argus said the airport had opened new restaurants, shops and amenities over the past 12 months and is planning for future growth with a new runway, new roads and other terminal enhancements.
“We know there is still a lot of work to do, particularly in our international arrivals area, and that’s why we are working with our airline partners on future infrastructure plans, including an expanded international terminal and our third runway,” he said.
“There will be disruptions while we complete these works, but they are essential projects that will ensure we continue to grow in line with our city, and that we remain Australia’s favourite airport destination.”
One infrastructure project that has stalled, however, is the planned rail link to the city. The Victorian government has spent at least $67 million to delay the project while it tries to resolve a dispute with the airport’s owners over whether the train station should be above or below ground.
An artist’s impression of a proposed elevated rail station at Melbourne Airport.
On Thursday, the airport announced Qantas’ domestic terminal would finally have new security scanners installed, allowing passengers to pass through without having to remove laptops, tablets or aerosols from their luggage. A temporary screening point is set to open in August and the works are due to be completed by December 2025.
The new security technology was introduced at Melbourne’s Terminal 4 in 2019 but major airports including Sydney and Brisbane have still not installed it in all terminals, despite a federal government edict to do so.
Elsewhere in the award results, Europe continued to have a strong showing, with Paris Charles de Gaulle, Munich, Zurich and Istanbul all maintaining positions in the top 10.
Once again US airports were nowhere to be seen near the top of the table. The highest ranked, Seattle-Tacoma, slipped six places to 24.
New York’s LaGuardia Airport rose in the rankings from 57th to 33rd.Credit: Jeff Goldberg
In other moves, New York’s JFK fell five places to 93rd; LaGuardia rose from 57 to 33; London Heathrow jumped one spot to 21st, while Gatwick was up seven to 48th; Japan’s Okinawa was the biggest climber, from 199th to 91st position.
The win for Qatar’s airport comes shortly after Australia’s Federal Court ruled that three women who launched legal action against Qatar Airways after they were invasively searched at the airport cannot sue because of the rules that govern international air travel.
The women, who are represented by Marque Lawyers, were granted leave to re-plead their claim against a third party – the Qatar government’s airport company, MATAR.
The top 20 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)
With Bloomberg
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