The Top 10 Airports in the U.S. and the World

Airports. Can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em. But their tolerability quotients vary widely; some are more endurable, even congenial, than others.

Skytrax conducts an annual survey of millions of flyers to determine which airports do the best job of pleasing travelers and which do the worst. For the sixth year in a row, the Skytrax 2018 World Airport Awards has dubbed Singapore Changi Airport the world’s best.

Here are Skytrax’s top 10 for 2018:

1. Singapore Changi Airport
2. Incheon International Airport (Seoul)
3. Tokyo International Airport (Haneda)
4. Hong Kong International Airport
5. Doha Hamad International Airport
6. Munich Airport
7. Chubu Centrair Nagoya
8. London Heathrow Airport
9. Zurich Airport
10. Frankfurt Airport

With five of the top-rated airports, Asia was the regional winner, led by Japan with two of the world’s best airports. (Tokyo Narita was number 11 on the list, and Kansai International was number 13.)

Conspicuously, there were no U.S. airports among the top 10, or even the top 25. Denver was the highest-rated U.S. facility, coming in at number 29, trailed by Cincinnati/Kentucky and Houston, at 34th and 48th.

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The 10 best U.S. airports:

1. Denver (29 of 100)
2. Cincinnati/Kentucky (34 of 100)
3. Houston George Bush (48 of 100)
4. Hartsfield-Jackson, Atlanta (50 of 100)
5. San Francisco (51 of 100)
6. Dallas/Ft. Worth (56 of 100)
7. Seattle-Tacoma (62 of 100)
8. New York JFK (69 of 100)
9. Los Angeles (72 of 100)
10. Minneapolis-St. Paul (79 of 100)

The Skytrax ratings are based on more than 13 million completed surveys, covering 550 airports. Among the airport features assessed: check-in, arrivals, transfers, shopping, security, immigration, and departures.

Reader Reality Check

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After 20 years working in the travel industry, and 15 years writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.