The 2016 Skytrax World Airport Awards have been announced, based on an online survey of more than 13 million travelers from 106 countries, and the biggest news for U.S. airports is how poorly they performed relative to their foreign counterparts.
Once again, no U.S. airport made it into the list of the world’s top 10; in fact, not a single U.S. airport made it into the top 25. The highest-rated U.S. facility was Denver International, which came in 28th (up from 33rd in 2015). The only other U.S. airports in the top 50 were Cincinnati in 32nd place, San Francisco in 37th, and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson in 43rd place.
The top airport in North America was Vancouver, winning that spot for the seventh year in a row. Seattle-Tacoma took top honors for best airport staff in North America, while Denver was rated the top regional airport in North America.
But for the most part, airports in Asia and Europe dominated the rankings. Ranking first, second and third – the same order that they held in 2015 – were Singapore Changi (ranked first for the fourth year in a row), Seoul Incheon and Munich Airport. Tokyo Haneda rose from fifth place in 2015 to fourth this year, while Hong Kong dropped from fourth to fifth. Rounding out the top 10, in order, are Chubu Centrair Nagoya Airport in Japan; Zurich; London Heathrow; Kansai (Osaka) International in Japan; and Hamad Airport in Doha, Qatar (which jumped from 22nd place last year to tenth this year).

One of the best things about Tokyo Haneda is the big open air rooftop tarmac-viewing area. Wow! (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
World’s top-rated airports for 2016
1 Singapore Changi Airport
2 Seoul Incheon International Airport
3 Munich Airport
4 Tokyo International Airport (Haneda)
5 Hong Kong International Airport
6 Chubu Centrair Nagoya
7 Zurich Airport
8 London Heathrow Airport
9 Kansai International Airport
10 Hamad International Airport (Doha)
The farther down you go in the rankings, the more U.S. airports turn up – e.g., Seattle, DFW and New York JFK ranked 54th, 58th and 59th, respectively, while Houston came in at 71st, Minneapolis-St. Paul 75th, Detroit 89th, LAX 91st and Boston Logan barely cracked the top 100 in 97th place.
Here’s the full listing of the top 100 airports for 2016, and their 2015 rankings.

Inside-the-airport entrance to Crowne Plaza hotel at Singapore Changi (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
Airport hotels were rated, too. The Crowne Plaza at Singapore Changi was named world’s best airport hotel. Regional winners included the Hilton Munich for Europe, Movenpick Hotel Bahrain for the Middle East, the Pullman Guangzhou for China and the Fairmont Vancouver for North America.
Readers: Are U.S. airports are getting a bad rap in these rankings, or are they really that much worse than their foreign counterparts? What’s your favorite airport worldwide?
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