Singapore Changi Airport is named the World’s Best Airport in 2026
Singapore Changi Airport has been named as the Airport of the Year 2026 at the 2026 World Airport Awards ceremony held at PTE World in London on 18th March 2026.
The former 13-time winner of the World’s Best Airport award, Singapore Changi Airport has been named as the Airport of the Year 2026. Changi Airport Group CEO, Mr Yam Kum Weng, received the award, along with four other major awards, for the World’s Best Airport Dining, the World’s Best Airport in the 60-70 million passenger category, the World’s Best Airport Immigration Service and as the Best Airport in Asia.
THE WORLD’S TOP 20 AIRPORTS OF 2026
- Singapore Changi Airport
- Incheon International Airport
- Tokyo International Airport (Haneda)
- Hong Kong International Airport
- Narita International Airport
- Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
- Rome Fiumicino Airport
- Istanbul Airport
- Munich Airport
- Vancouver International Airport
- Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
- Chubu Centrair International Airport
- Dubai International Airport
- Riyadh Airport
- Vienna International Airport
- London Heathrow Airport
- Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
- Fukuoka Airport
- Zurich Airport
- Bahrain Airport
The 2026 World Airport Awards ceremony started with the latest SKYTRAX Airport Star Rating presentations:
- Rome Ciampino Airport: awarded the 4-Star Regional Airport Rating
- Punta Cana International Airport: awarded the 4-Star Airport Rating
- Fukuoka International Airport: awarded the 5-Star Regional Airport Rating
- Haikou Meilan International Airport: awarded the 5-Star Airport Rating
- Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport: awarded the 5-Star Airport Rating
Seoul Incheon Airport is ranked at No 2 globally in 2026, and won a coveted title as the World’s Most Family Friendly Airport.
Tokyo Haneda Airport ranks No 3 globally and received three major awards as the World’s Cleanest Airport (Major Airport), the World’s Best Domestic Airport and for having the World’s Best Airport PRM & Accessible Facilities.
Hong Kong International Airport moved up to No 4 globally, and received the much coveted award for the World’s Best Airport Washrooms and also collected the award for the World’s Best Airport Security Processing.
London’s Heathrow Airport received a major award for the Worlds ‘s Best Airport Shopping.
Chubu Centrair International Airport, Nagoya, was a repeat winner of the World’s Best Regional Airport award, and the Best Regional Airport in Asia title.
Another success in Japan was for Aso Kumamoto Airport that received the award as the World’s Best New Airport Terminal.
Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport collected the award as the World’s Most Improved Airport with an impressive global rating improvement on previous years, and reflecting the recent opening of their newly upgraded international Terminal 2.
Paris CDG Airport enjoyed success winning the awards as the Best Airport in Europe for a fourth successive year, and their sister airport Paris Orly Airport took the top award as the Best Regional Airport in Europe.
Japan’s New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido won a major award as the World’s Cleanest Airport (for up to 30 million passengers).
Terminal 2 at Kansai International Airport replicated some earlier year success, winning the award for the World’s Best Low-Cost Terminal.
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport enjoyed a repeat success in the 2026 event, by winning a top award for the World’s Best Airport Baggage Delivery.
Houston Airport System remains a dominant force by winning the award for the World’s Best Airport Art for the fourth successive year.
Rome Fiumicino Airport is named the Best Airport in Southern Europe, Helsinki Vantaa Airport the Best Airport in Northern Europe, and Budapest Airport again wins the Best Airport in Eastern Europe title.
Munich Airport was successful at the awards, winning the Awards for the Best Airport Staff in Europe, and as the Best Airport in Central Europe.
Cape Town Airport is the major award winner in Africa, receiving two awards – as the Best Airport in Africa and Best Airport Staff Service in Africa.
Delhi International Airport wins the award as the Best Airport in India & South Asia, and Hyderabad Airport received the award for Best Airport Staff Service in India & South Asia. Bangalore Airport collected the award for the Best Regional Airport in India & South Asia.
In the Best Airport Hotel categories, Crowne Plaza Changi Airport collected the award as the World’s Best Airport Hotel and the Best Airport Hotel in Asia.
Grand Hyatt at SFO received the award as the Best Airport Hotel in North America for the second time, and Hilton Munich Airport received the Best Airport Hotel in Europe award.
The Pullman Brisbane Airport won the award as the Best Airport Hotel in Australia & Pacific region, and the Taj Bangalore was a repeat winner of the award as the Best Airport Hotel in India & South Asia.
Hyatt Regency Shenzhen was named the Best Airport Hotel in China, Le Méridien Cairo Airport the Best Airport Hotel in Africa, with the Movenpick Bahrain collecting the award as the Best Airport Hotel in the Middle East.
» View the full A-Z of Airport Award Winners
important awards note
Hamad International Airport issued the statement below on 17th March 2026:
Hamad International Airport confirms that it is withdrawing from all external exhibitions, conferences, industry events, activations, and awards programmes during this period, and this includes a formal withdrawal from the PTE World 2026 in London and the World Airport Awards 2026.
The safety and wellbeing of our passengers, our staff, and their families is, and remains, our absolute priority. We thank the aviation community for its understanding.
THE WORLD AIRPORT AWARDS
The World Airport Awards are prestigious accolades for the airport industry, voted by customers in the largest, annual global airport customer satisfaction survey.
Operating since 1999, the World Airport Awards are independent and impartial, and provide a customer satisfaction study that is global in scope and coverage. They are regarded as a quality benchmark for the world airport industry, assessing customer service and facilities across over 575 airports. The survey and awards process is provided to airports at no cost.
The Awards are based on the World Airport Survey questionnaires completed by over 100 nationalities of airport customers during the survey period, which operated from August 2025 to February 2026. The survey evaluated the customer experience across airport service and product key performance indicators – from check in, arrivals, transfers, shopping, security / immigration through to departure at the gate.
