Top 5 Airports in the World

The Airport Council International (ACI) Thursday announced the list of the top airports in the world.

According to the annual ACI Airport Service Quality (ASQ) passenger survey, the top 5 airports in the world are Seoul Incheon International Airport, Singapore Changi Airport, Hong Kong International Airport, Beijing Capital International Airport and Hyderabad Rajiv Ghandi International Airport. All these airports belong to the Asia-Pacific Region.

The survey aims at measuring the improvement made by airports every year and also gives a platform for airports worldwide to compete with their peers. The survey is considered as a reliable performance indicators of the airport's service.

ACI director general Angela Gittens commented, "2009 was a tough year for airports worldwide. Traffic numbers fell while competition rose. For airports, it was a year of balancing tight budgets with high customer expectations for service excellence. The results of the year-long ASQ passenger survey help identify the leaders in meeting that challenge and demonstrate that airports have continued to invest and focus on customer service despite falling traffic numbers."

In addition to the worldwide category, top performers are named for each of the six regional categories and 5 traffic size categories.

By region, top marks go to George, South Africa (Africa); Seoul Incheon, South Korea (Asia-Pacific); Keflavik, Iceland (Europe); Cancun, Mexico (Latin America-Caribbean); Tel Aviv, Israel (Middle East) and Austin, USA (North America).

By the traffic size categories, first place recognition was won by Halifax, Canada (under 5 million), Hyderabad, India (5-15 million), Baltimore/Washington, USA (15-25 million), Seoul Incheon, South Korea (25-40 million) and Hong Kong, China (over 40 million).

Start the slideshow to have a look at the Top 5 airports worldwide.

Incheon International Airport (IIA) is the largest airport in South Korea, the primary airport serving the Seoul national capital area, and one of the largest and busiest airports in the world. From 2006 to 2010, it was rated the best airport in the world by the Airports Council International and received the full 5-star ranking by Skytrax, a recognition shared only by Hong Kong International Airport and Singapore Changi Airport.The airport has a golf course, spa, private sleeping rooms, ice skating rink, a casino, indoor gardens and a Museum of Korean Culture.
Located 70 km (43 mi) west of Seoul, the capital and largest city of South Korea, Incheon International Airport is the main hub for Korean Air, Asiana Airlines and Polar Air Cargo. The airport serves as a hub for international civilian air transportation and cargo traffic in East Asia. Incheon International Airport is also currently Asia's eighth busiest airport in terms of passengers, the world's fourth busiest airport by cargo traffic, and the world's eighth busiest airport in terms of international passengers in 2010.

Singapore's Changi International Airport is the main airport in Singapore. A major aviation hub in Southeast Asia, it is about 17.2 kilometres (10.7 mi) north-east from the commercial centre in Changi, on a 13 square kilometres (5.0 sq mi) site.
The airport, operated by the Changi Airport Group, is the home base of Singapore Airlines, Singapore Airlines Cargo, SilkAir, Tiger Airways, Jetstar Asia Airways, Valuair, and Jett8 Airlines Cargo.The airport is a secondary hub for Qantas, which uses Singapore as the main stopover point for flights on the Kangaroo Route between Australia and Europe. Qantas is the largest foreign airline to operate from the airport, with over two million passengers annually. An important contributor to the Economy of Singapore, more than 28,000 people are employed at the airport, which accounts for over S$4.5 billion in output.
Changi Airport has four passenger terminals with a total annual handling capacity of more than 70 million passengers.

Hong Kong International Airport is the main airport in Hong Kong. It is colloquially known as Chek Lap Kok Airport, being built on the island of Chek Lap Kok by land reclamation, and also to distinguish it from its predecessor, the closed Kai Tak Airport.
The airport opened for commercial operations in 1998, replacing Kai Tak, and is an important regional trans-shipment centre, passenger hub and gateway for destinations in Mainland China (with over 40 destinations) and the rest of Asia. Hong Kong International Airport has won eight Skytrax World Airport Awards for customer satisfaction in eleven years.HKIA ranked second and third in 2009 and 2010 respectively for the Skytrax World Airport Awards, and has also won the Skytrax World Airport of the Year 2011.
HKIA also operates one of the world's largest passenger terminal buildings (the largest when opened in 1998) and operates twenty-four hours a day. The airport is operated by the Airport Authority Hong Kong and is the primary hub for Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, Hong Kong Express Airways, Hong Kong Airlines and Air Hong Kong (cargo). The airport is also one of the Asian-Pacific cargo hubs for UPS Airlines.

Beijing Capital International Airport, is the main international airport serving Beijing, China. It is located 32 km (20 mi) northeast of Beijing's city center in an enclave of Chaoyang District that is surrounded by rural Shunyi District. The airport is owned and operated by the Beijing Capital International Airport Company Limited, a state-controlled company. The airport's IATA Airport Code, PEK, is based on the city's former romanized name, Peking.
Beijing Capital has rapidly ascended in rankings of the world's busiest airports in the past decade. It had become the busiest airport in Asia in terms of passenger traffic and total traffic movements by 2009. Beijing Capital International Airport is currently the 2nd busiest airport in the world in terms of passenger throughput behind Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The airport registered 517,584 aircraft movements (take-offs and landings), which ranked 8th in the world in 2010, making Beijing Capital the only Asian airport in the Top 30. In terms of cargo traffic, Beijing airport has also witnessed rapid growth. By 2009, the airport had become the 14th busiest airport in the world by cargo traffic, registering 1,420,997 tonnes.
Beijing Capital International Airport is the main hub for Air China, the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China, which flies to around 120 destinations (excluding cargo) from Beijing. Hainan and China Southern Airlines also use the airport as their hub.

The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport is located at 22 km south of downtown Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.
The airport is named after former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi. It replaced the former international airport of the city, Begumpet Airport.

The airport has been named amongst the world's top five in the annual Airport Service Quality (ASQ) passenger survey along with the ones at Seoul, Singapore, Hong Kong and Beijing.

In 2010, the airport was ranked among the top airports of the world in the airport services quality by the Airports Council International. It retained the number one position for the second year in a row among 49 airports handling 5-15 million passengers per annum.