Dubbed “the Oscars of the aviation industry,” the yearly Skytrax World Airport Awards was won by Singapore’s Changi Airport for an incredible sixth consecutive year. The annual awards, held in Stockholm, Sweden on March 21st, saw Changi Airport, which boasted 60 million passengers in 2017, fend off strong opposition from Incheon International Airport (Seoul, South Korea) in second place, Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) in third place and Hong Kong International Airport in fourth place with Doha Hamad rounding off the top five. It is the ninth time that Singapore’s Changi Airport has received the “world’s best airport” title in the last two decades.
“To be voted the World’s Best Airport for the sixth consecutive year is a fabulous achievement for Changi Airport, and this award yet again demonstrates the airport’s popularity with international air travelers,” Edward Plaisted, CEO of UK-based Skytrax, said in a statement.
There weren’t any big shocks in the Skytrax Top 100. Rome Fiumicino Airport did however achieve one of the largest gains, rising from 158th place to 85th. Bahrain International Airport recorded the largest fall in rankings falling from 57th place down to 73rd.
In North America Vancouver was the No.1 airport yet again, even though its ranking edged down one place to 14th.
in the United States, Denver International Airport came top, although 29th place in the overall table, while the biggest decline in U.S airports was the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport which dropped eight places from 26th to 34th.
Changi Airport oversees 5,000 arrivals and departures every week, and continues to improve its passenger experience. Terminal 4, which opened for business in November in 2018, costing $944 million has the capacity to serve a total of 16 million passengers per year, taking the overall serving capacity of Changi Airport to 82 million per annum.
On offer at the airport include free massage chairs, two 24-hour movie theaters screening the latest films for free, a rooftop swimming pool and a giant LED screen to entertain passengers as they go through security. Once passed through security, passengers are spoilt for choice for souvenirs and duty free from any one of the 62 shopping units at the passenger’s disposal. In total, there are 19 food and beverage stations, which includes a “live roti prata station,” where a chef whips up the much-loved Indian pancake upon demand. Should passengers still not be entertained, there is always the live theatre production on offer, also free of charge.
“Project Jewel” scheduled to open in Spring 2019 is also underway. The massive glass dome shaped like a doughnut will interlink terminals 1, 2 and 3 through walkways made of glass. The five-storey structure will feature an indoor garden and an impressively large waterfall.