This is the world's best airport for 2025, according to Skytrax
Editor's note: Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel's weekly newsletter. Get news about destinations, plus the latest in aviation, food and drink, and where to stay.
Killing time in the airport is ordinarily such a drag that there's a whole TikTok trend devoted to people making it through the terminal in as little time as possible.
Not so in Singapore Changi, which has just been crowned the World's Best Airport for the 13th time by air transport rating organization Skytrax.
Changi is a destination in itself, where early check-in has been introduced to allow passengers to drop their bags off up to 48 hours before their flight so they can make their time at the airport part of the vacation.
Most will hit the mammoth 10-story Jewel shopping mall, with its footfall of 80 million people in 2024. Then there are the multiple indoor gardens (including a butterfly center) and the 40-meter high Rain Vortex, the world's largest indoor waterfall (around 130 feet).
There are spas, hotels, art exhibitions, a museum, a cinema; there's even a dinosaur theme park.
Skytrax has also recognized the airport as a gastronomic wonderland. It scooped up the award for World's Best Airport Dining, as well as those for World's Best Airport Washrooms and Best Airport in Asia, at the World Airport Awards held in Madrid on April 9.
It's unlikely to be the last accolade earned by this exemplary airport.
Changi is investing more than $2 billion in the next six years on the improvement of services and facilities, CNN Business reported last month.
It's also set to get even bigger. Work is underway on a fifth terminal to add to the existing four, which will open in the 2030s.
unknown content item
-
The world's no. 2 airport, according to Skytrax's global survey of customers at 565 airports around the world, is the artwork-filled and architecturally splendid Hamad International in Qatar, easily one of the most luxurious aviation hubs in the world. It also won awards for Best Airport Shopping and Best Airport in the Middle East.
Asian airports nabbed spots three through six on the list, proving once again that the region is leaving North America and Europe to play catch-up when it comes to air transport excellence.
Tokyo Haneda (also named the World's Cleanest Airport) was at No. 3, followed by Seoul's Incheon International (also awarded World's Best Airport Staff), Narita International (serving Tokyo) and Hong Kong International.
Nine European airports made it into the top 20. At No. 7, Paris Charles de Gaulle was named Best Airport in Europe for the third year in a row. Rome Fiumicino, having a busy year thanks to the Catholic Church's Jubilee celebrations, was at No. 8.
Munich, Zurich and Helsinki-Vantaa were in 9th, 10th and 12th place respectively and Istanbul Airport, on the European side of the continent-straddling city, was at No. 14. Istanbul was also named the World's Most Family-Friendly Airport.
Vienna (No. 15), Copenhagen (No. 18) and Amsterdam Schiphol (No. 19) all made the cut, but London Heathrow, the busiest airport in Europe, didn't pick up any gongs.
The only airport from the Americas to make the list was Vancouver International at No. 13. Cape Town Airport didn't make the top 20, but was named Best Airport in Africa and Best Airport Staff Service in Africa.
The rest of the top 20 was made up of Dubai International at No. 11, Melbourne at No. 16, Japan's Chubu Centrair at No. 17 (also named World's Best Regional Airport) and Bahrain international at No.20.
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport won the award for World's Best Airport Baggage Delivery, Copenhagen was acclaimed for the World's Best Airport Security Processing and Hong Kong International scooped the gong for World's Best Airport Immigration.
1. Singapore Changi Airport
2. Hamad International Airport
3. Tokyo Haneda Airport
4. Incheon International Airport
5. Narita International Airport
6. Hong Kong International Airport
7. Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
8. Rome Fiumicino Airport
9. Munich Airport
10. Zurich Airport
11. Dubai International Airport
12. Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
13. Vancouver International Airport
14. Istanbul Airport
15. Vienna International Airport
16. Melbourne Airport
17. Chubu Centrair International Airport
18. Copenhagen Airport
19. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
20. Bahrain International Airport
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Raunchy ‘ParkTok' trend goes viral with risqué videos raising awareness of spending cuts to national parks
Are you hot and heavy for national parks? These people want you to be. Videos mixing raunchy and sexually suggestive captions, audio or clips mixed with beautiful videos of American national parks are going viral on TikTok — or ParkTok, as the kids are calling it. In one clip posted by @ Johnathon Caine, an OnlyFans creator, smiles slyly into the camera from several angles before leaning over, flexing shirtless into the screen before the video cuts to clips of an alpine lake. Another video on the same account shows a woman dressed in a sexy cat costume dancing to a rap song before it cuts to a stunning scene of a park. The caption reads: 'Thirst Trap Thursday coming in hot and no, it's not just the hike. Serving scenic legs and waterfall teases on the way to Nevada Falls. Nature's not the only thing dripping.' Other ParkTok videos look innocent enough with stunning views of Multnomah Falls — yet if you turn the volume up, the music choices are beyond suggestive and explicit. The reason behind these unexpected spicy videos? Nature lovers are hoping to stop people mid-scroll to bring attention to the natural beauty of these parks — and the threats they're facing due to President Trump's attempt to cut national park staffing, which 'could result in more than a 75% reduction to the National Park System,' according to NPCA. 'This does go way beyond the thirst traps,' Kim Tanner, who runs the unofficial Joshua Tree account @joshuatreenp with more than 250,000 followers, told CNN. 'It's a way to pull people in, it's a way to hook them, and it works. But at the same time, you're showing them that beautiful imagery [of the parks] and hopefully, even if subliminally, you're educating them.' Funny text overlay is another tactic to get viewers' attention. tiktok/@ Many ParkTokkers hope that viewers donate to organizations like the National Park Foundation or contact local representatives to advocate for their political support of the parks. Sometimes the accounts make jokes about which has the 'biggest trees' or 'longest lakes' seemingly competing with one another — but many of them are actually working together. Phoebe, a nature enthusiast who started the unofficial Multnomah Falls account @multnomah_falls to simply share her love of Oregon's Columbia River Gorge, realized she could do more than just gush about how breathtaking her favorite area is. That's why she joined a group chat on TikTok with fellow-minded ParkTokkers. 'We started thinking we could probably do some good with this instead of just sharing our hiking videos,' Phoebe told the outlet. So, they began 'doing coordinated, themed posts, in between our silly posts and our nature posts, about the threats of logging and the threats of our public lands being sold and all of these things that have been introduced by the federal government,' she said. These content creators hope their buzzy, spice-filled videos will turn people on to protect the parks.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Is the end of the dreaded airport queue in sight? Not quite
Last week, British passengers arriving at Tenerife South Airport reported 'inhumane' conditions after queueing for more than two hours without access to water or loos. 'We couldn't move our arms, we could barely breathe, and people were sweating. Some parents lifted their children onto their shoulders to stop them from suffocating,' one passenger told local media. It's a frightening image, and one that has become more common at European airports since British air passengers became 'third-country nationals' after Brexit. This effectively gives us the same rights as arrivals from, say, Venezuela, banishing us to the often snail-paced 'All Passports' queue to get a stamp on arrival. When flying home we must also pass through border control to get a second exit stamp before proceeding to the gate. This can lead to scenarios where passengers are kettled at the gates with no access to refreshments if a flight is delayed, and no way to go back to the main terminal area. Change, it seems, is on the horizon. The Labour party has struck a deal with the EU to allow British passport holders to pass through e-gates, and the introduction of the Entry/Exit System (EES) in October will automate identity checks and remove the need for manual passport stamps. So will these images of British passengers snaking out of arrival halls at European airports soon be a thing of the past? Yes, but it may take a while. When it first rolls out, EES will require British (and all non-EU) travellers to provide fingerprints and facial images when entering or exiting the Schengen Area. This process has been much-delayed, not least because implementing it requires a continent-wide tech overhaul. And as we all know, airport IT systems, often operated by third-party firms and alongside multiple other systems, have a tendency to buckle at inopportune moments. If the new tech doesn't create hold-ups, the data capture process could. Pressing thumbs on sensors and having a photograph taken may sound like a simple process, but how many times have you seen somebody push their passport into the e-gate sensor the wrong way up? Such are the fears of hold-ups that airports are planning 'safety valve' procedures, where the requirement to capture everyone's data will be temporarily waived if a checkpoint gets too busy. On e-gates, I have found this new Labour/EU e-gates 'agreement' to be somewhat smoke and mirrors. The wording in the relevant document says that 'British passengers will be able to use more e-gates in Europe'. But this does not necessarily mean we will be able to use fast-track EU e-gates. Instead, it might be that we remain in the naughty ('All Passports') queue that happens to have an e-gate at the end of it. This will ultimately be up for individual countries and airports to decide. I will allow you to decide whether we are likely to receive sympathy on this matter, or not. Perhaps I'm being overly negative. Let's say that the EES roll-out isn't as clunky as feared, and that through some miracle the majority of European airports do kindly allow Britons to use their fast-track e-gates. Surely the airport queues will have simmered down by next summer? Maybe. But we will still face the additional border check when flying home (albeit with biometrics rather than a passport stamp). And hold-ups like those seen in Tenerife are as much to do with poor scheduling as anything else. I checked the arrivals board on Tuesday June 2, and at 10.40am there were scheduled flights from Manchester (Jet2), Liverpool (Jet2), East Midlands (Tui) and Bournemouth (Ryanair). Ten minutes later, flights from Birmingham and Leeds (both Jet2) were scheduled to land, plus another from Paris. That's seven 180-or-so capacity flights touching onto tarmac, one after the other, in the space of ten minutes, at a single-runway, single-terminal airport. Even the sleekest, AI-powered biometric arrivals system would struggle to process all those passengers without the formation of a queue. There are some changes to the airport process that we can feel optimistic about. Soon, we'll be able to take greater quantities of liquids through security at all UK airports. A shake-up of UK flight paths promises to reduce air traffic delays before the end of the decade. And yes, all this new tech will eventually reduce friction at borders. But when you are stuck in a packed arrivals hall with a child on your shoulders and no access to water, you will be praying for progress now – not at some ambiguous point in the future. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Wildfire warnings issued in the Canary Islands as millions prepare to holiday there
As millions of holidaymakers prepare to head to the Canary Islands this summer, authorities have issued a wildfire pre-alert across the archipelago. The warning, announced by the General Directorate of Emergencies on Sunday, applies to tourist hotspots El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, Tenerife and Gran Canaria. It comes as the islands enter a high-risk fire period following the wet season, as hot, dry winds known as the 'calima' begin blowing in from the Sahara Desert. The risk of wildfire is nothing new for the Canary Islands. The volcanic terrain, Mediterranean climate and fire-adapted vegetation - plants that have evolved to thrive in fire-prone environments - make them susceptible to summer blazes, and scientists say wildfires are part of the archipelago's ecological rhythm. Some of the worst occurred in 2023, when forest fires ravaged Tenerife, destroying more than 15,000 hectares of land and forcing 12,000 people to evacuate. The blaze was later found to have been started by arsonists. This year, officials are urging tourists and locals alike to take extreme caution, warning against launching fireworks near forests and discarding cigarettes on dry ground. Related You'll need to book via app to visit these spectacular beaches in Sardinia this summer Greece boosts firefighter and drone numbers to tackle growing risk of wildfires But even as the fire warnings roll in, the Canaries' appeal shows no signs of slowing down. In 2024, the islands welcomed nearly 18 million tourists, including a record-breaking 15.5 million international arrivals. Among them, British travellers led the way, recording 6.3 million visits – up 500,000 from 2023. While the Canary Islands continue to attract record numbers of tourists, residents are increasingly voicing concerns about overtourism. In April 2024, tens of thousands of islanders participated in protests, holding signs that read 'the Canary Islands have a limit' while rallying against rising housing costs, environmental damage and the strain on public services. Over Easter this year, about 80,000 hospitality workers in Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro walked out in a dispute with unions over pay. The surge in short-term rentals has been especially contentious. Locals have reported getting priced out of their neighbourhoods as properties are converted into holiday lets, the cost of living soars and wages stagnate. Despite these concerns, tourism remains a significant part of the Canary Islands' economy, accounting for approximately 35 per cent of its GDP. After welcoming seven million tourists in 2024, Tenerife remains the most visited island. Its year-round sunshine and wide beaches keep it a firm favourite among families, especially during the UK's summer school break and throughout the winter months. Related Svalbard, Chios, El Hierro: How these European islands have successfully avoided overtourism Is it safe to travel to Lanzarote? Latest advice after Storm Olivier sweeps through Canary Islands As the peak summer season picks up, local tourism boards have made no indication that the fire pre-alerts will disrupt travel plans. But authorities remain focused on prevention this year. More than 2,000 firefighters are on standby. Meanwhile, the government has distributed detailed safety advice, urging people to prepare a go-bag, stay informed and follow emergency evacuation or shelter-in-place instructions if fires erupt.
