Changi Airport in Singapore has lost its position as the world’s best airport according to the 2021 rankings.

After holding the top position for almost a decade, Singapore’s Changi Airport has dropped from first place in Skytrax’s World Airport Awards for 2021.

Doha’s Hamad International Airport, which has steadily risen in the rankings, has earned the top spot in the 2021 'World’s Best Airport' category.

Changi now ranks third, a notable achievement for any airport, though not quite the result its loyal fans expected given its renowned comfort, convenience, and excellent food and beverage offerings.

Doha’s rise is closely tied to the significant investments made by the Qatari government in both Qatar Airways and Hamad International Airport, resulting in impressive advancements.

Qatar Airways offers a range of perks for passengers with layovers at Hamad International Airport (HIA), including complimentary city tours, free accommodation and meals (depending on layover duration), and a VIP transfer service where staff assist travelers directly from their plane to the next flight.

European and Asian airports took the lead in the 2021 rankings, with Japan emerging as the top-rated country overall. The country had three airports in the top 10, including both Narita and Haneda airports in Tokyo.

The World Airport Awards are determined by customer votes gathered through a global airport satisfaction survey conducted between August 2020 and July 2021.

Here is the complete list of the top 10 airports in the 'World’s Best Airport' category:

1. Hamad International Airport (HIA)

2. Tokyo's Haneda Airport (HND)

3. Singapore's Changi Airport (SIN)

4. Incheon International Airport (ICN) in Seoul

5. Tokyo Narita Airport (NRT)

6. Munich Airport (MUC) in Germany

7. Zurich Airport (ZRH) in Switzerland

8. London Heathrow Airport (LHR) in the UK

9. Kansai International Airport (KIX) in Osaka

10. Hong Kong International Airport (HKG)

Other accolades

Amid a year still affected by the coronavirus pandemic, evaluating airports was a challenging task. To address this, Skytrax, an independent consulting group from the UK, created a separate list to highlight airports that excelled in implementing new health and hygiene measures.

Instead of ranking them, Skytrax recognized 39 airports for their efforts in managing the new protocols, listing them alphabetically. Rome's Fiumicino received the inaugural 'COVID-19 5-Star Airport Rating' from Skytrax, while Tokyo Haneda was named the Cleanest Airport.

Istanbul Airport was recognized for Most Improved, Changi Airport won the Best Airport Staff award, Incheon received praise for Best Airport Security, and Centrair Nagoya in Japan took home the Best Regional Airport award.

Skytrax also categorized the top airports based on the number of passengers each one serves annually.

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in China topped the list for airports handling 35-45 million passengers a year, while Hamad International Airport excelled in the 25-35 million range. London Heathrow led in the 20-25 million group, Frankfurt in the 15-20 million group, Changi in the 10-15 million range, Zurich in the 5-10 million group, Centrair Nagoya in the 2-5 million group, and Quito in the under 2 million category. Regionally, Vancouver International Airport in Canada was named 'Best Airport in North America.'

For the complete list of winners from 2021, visit the Skytrax World Airport Awards website.