Here are the world's top airports for outstanding customer experience

Airports are more than just transit points; the best ones go above and beyond to ensure a smooth and pleasant journey for travelers.

The Airport Service Quality Awards, announced on Monday, celebrate the world's top airports known for delivering an exceptional customer experience.

Among the leading mega-airports serving over 40 million passengers annually, Rome’s Fiumicino stands out, earning an award for overall quality and recognition for its cleanliness, enjoyable atmosphere, and helpful staff.

Singapore’s Changi Airport also garnered additional accolades for its dedicated staff and the ease with which passengers navigate the terminal. Istanbul's airport was similarly honored for its cleanliness and enjoyable environment, in addition to its top-quality services.

Award winners are selected by the Airports Council International and travel technology company Amadeus, based on passenger surveys conducted on the day of travel. In 2022, over 465,000 surveys were collected.

The surveys assess 30 different factors, such as check-in processes, ease of navigation, and the variety of shopping and dining options available.

Luis Felipe de Oliveira, director general of ACI World, stated, “The ASQ program not only benchmarks performance but also provides airports, regardless of size, with the opportunity for ongoing learning and improvement in delivering top-tier customer experience.”

Overall customer experience and the introduction of new categories

Out of the 69 airports that earned ASQ awards for overall quality, 24 are located in Europe, 22 in the Asia-Pacific region, 11 in North America, five in Latin America or the Caribbean, four in Africa, and three in the Middle East.

There is no single winner in each region or airport size category; instead, awards were granted to the top 20% of airports in each size and region group.

This year, ACI added four new categories: airports with the most dedicated staff, easiest airport journey, most enjoyable airport experience, and the cleanest airport.

Awards in the new categories were presented to airports that scored within the top 5% in each region.

The new 'most enjoyable' category evaluates factors such as shopping and dining experiences, comfort of gate areas, available entertainment, leisure options, and the overall ambiance.

In total, 75 airports worldwide were honored with awards.

Here are the winners in select categories:

Top large airports in the world

Here are the world’s leading airports in the highest passenger volume categories, organized by region:

Leading airports with more than 40 million passengers annually

• Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai, India
• Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, India
• Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, China
• Shanghai Pudong International Airport, China
• Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport, China
• Singapore Changi Airport
• Aeroporto di Roma-Fiumicino, Italy
• Istanbul Airport, Turkey
• Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Texas, USA
• San Francisco International Airport, California, USA

Top airports with 25 to 40 million passengers annually

• Gimpo International Airport, Seoul, South Korea
• Beijing Daxing International Airport, China
• Athens International Airport, Greece
• Palma de Mallorca Airport, Spain
• Zurich Airport, Switzerland
• Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Michigan, USA
• Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport, Minnesota, USA

World’s most enjoyable airports

These are the airports across all regions and passenger volume categories that received ACI's new 'most enjoyable' awards:

• Aeroporto di Roma-Fiumicino, Italy
• Istanbul Airport, Turkey
• Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia
• Beijing Daxing International Airport, China
• Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport, Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia
• Yogyakarta International Airport, Java, Indonesia
• Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, Serbia
• Milan Bergamo Airport, Italy
• Ankara Esenboga Airport, Turkey
• Quito International Airport, Ecuador
• Queen Alia International Airport, Amman, Jordan
• William P. Hobby Airport, Houston, Texas, USA
• Dakar Blaise Diagne International Airport, Senegal
• Skopje International Airport, Macedonia
• Guayaquil International Airport, Ecuador
• Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, South Carolina, USA
• Pattimura International Airport, Ambon, Maluku Province, Indonesia
• Fort McMurray International Airport, Alberta, Canada

Top airports in North America

The quality report examines airports based on the regions and their passenger volumes. Here are the North American airports that earned the Airport Service Quality awards for overall performance:

Top North American airports across all passenger volume categories, from the largest to the smallest:

• Dallas Fort Worth International Airport
• San Francisco International Airport
• Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
• Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport
• San Jose Mineta International Airport
• Indianapolis International Airport
• Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport
• Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport
• Gerald R. Ford International Airport, Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport
• Fort McMurray International Airport, Alberta, Canada