SKYTRAX has listed the top 100 airports of the world as voted by air travellers around the world in the 2020/2021 World Airport Survey.
Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar was voted the Best Airport in the World at the 2021 World Airport Awards with Tokyo Haneda in second place followed by Singapore Changi in third place. Hamad International Airport rounded off its success at the 2021 World Airport Awards by winning the awards for the Best Airport in the Middle East, the World’s Best Airport in the 25 to 35 million Passenger category, and for the Best Airport Staff in the Middle East.
Edward Plaisted of Skytrax said: “We are delighted to announce that Hamad International Airport has been voted the World’s Best Airport 2021. Inaugurated in 2014, Hamad International Airport has rapidly become a customer favourite and moved from No 3 in the world in 2020 to be ranked World’s Best Airport this year. Achieving this honour is very much a team effort, and our congratulations go to the Management, staff and stakeholders at Hamad International Airport that help make this happen. As travel hubs worldwide have been impacted by the pandemic, Hamad International Airport was undeterred by the global travel disruptions and continued with its expansion plans while introducing additional airport health and safety standards. As the Official Airport Partner for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 we wish Hamad International Airport every success in helping to host such a major event.”
THE SURVEY DURING COVID-19
The annual airport customer survey for the Passenger’s Choice Awards operated from August 2020 until July 2021, with many travellers voting for their favourite / best airport based on pre-pandemic travel experiences, whilst other customers voted after their COVID-19 Airport Experience during the past 12 months.
THE WORLD AIRPORT AWARDS
The World Airport Awards began in 1999, when Skytrax launched its first global, airport customer satisfaction survey. They are regarded as a quality benchmark for the world airport industry, assessing customer service and facilities across over 500 airports.
BEST AIRPORTS IN AFRICA 2021
Interestly, Cape Town is listed in 33rd place and won first place in Best Airports in Africa 2021, with Durban King Shaka taking second place, followed by Johannesburg in third place in the category. However globally Cape Town International Airport actually slipped ten places from 23rd place in the 2020 awards.
According to ACSA, Cape Town International Airport is Africa’s most award winning airport and as Africa’s 3rd largest airport, it processes over 10 million passengers annually.
So with South Africa taking the top three places, fourth place was taken by Mauritius. Port Elizabeth made ninth place followed by Bloemfontein in tenth place.
This is actually very good news for South Africa, despite the COVID-19 Pandemic decimating a large chunk of the tourism industry.
Not bad having five airports in the top ten in these times. Not bad at all.
RECOGNITION
The 2021 World Airport Awards recognise the efforts of global airports in adapting and meeting the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The past 18 months has been the most challenging and financially difficult period ever experienced by the world air transport industry, and airports have invested to provide the safest possible environment for their customers and staff during the global pandemic. COVID-19 has impacted some regions and airports more than others, with many areas having few, if any, international routes operating for more than a year.
There is no entry fee or any type of payment by an airport (or other third party) to be included in the survey or awards, with the survey and awards process fully funded by Skytrax.
(Credits – Skytrax)
