Singapore’s Changi Airport has been named the world’s best for a second consecutive year, its 14th win at the annual World Airline Awards.
Changi’s chief rival for the top slot, Doha’s Hamad International, which was runner-up last year, withdrew from the awards at the last minute, citing the closure of airspace around Qatar due to the current conflict in the region.
The airport posted a statement saying it was “withdrawing from all external exhibitions, conferences, industry events and awards programs during this period, including the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2026 and the Passenger Terminal Expo 2026, London” due to the war.
Doha has won the top award three times this decade, after it was dominated by Changi in the 2010s
Other affected airports in the region remained in the rankings, with Dubai International (the world’s busiest airport for international traffic in 2025) named at No.13, Bahrain at No.20 and Abu Dhabi at No.23.
Melbourne again topped the list for Australian airports, coming in at number 21 overall, well ahead of Sydney (52) and Brisbane (40). Other Australian airports in the top 100 were Perth (58), Adelaide (72) and Gold Coast (81).
The awards were announced in London at airport design exhibition PTE World. The awards are based on customer satisfaction surveys and cover 575 airports worldwide.
Changi won several other awards, including Best Airport Dining and Best Airport Immigration Service. The airport has seen a surge in traffic from passengers travelling between Australia and Europe due to the airspace closures affecting the major Persian Gulf hubs. Data from Flight Centre Travel Group found booking volumes for trips between Australia and Europe via Changi had surged 38 per cent since early March, shortly after the United States and Israel attacked Iran.
Changi was ranked the world’s fourth-busiest airport for international traffic in 2025, with 42.5 million seats, behind Dubai, London Heathrow and Incheon in South Korea, according to analysts OAG.
Melbourne airport’s expansion
Melbourne Airport’s result comes after it recorded its busiest month on record for international travel in January, with more than 1.2 million passengers passing through the international terminal. The airport announced a massive $4.5 billion expansion plan last month, including expanding the international terminal and adding new pick-up and drop-off zones
The award for most improved airport went to Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh King Khalid International, which climbed from No.24 to No.14 in the rankings following the upgrade of its international terminal. The country has big plans to become the next major hub in the region, with the full launch of new airline Riyadh Air expected this year and a rapid expansion to 98 destinations (including, at some stage, Australia).
World’s best airports 2026
- Singapore Changi
- Seoul Incheon
- Tokyo Haneda
- Hong Kong
- Tokyo Narita
- Paris CDG
- Rome Fiumicino
- Istanbul
- Munich
- Vancouver
- Helsinki-Vantaa
- Chubu Centrair International
- Dubai International
- Riyadh King Khalid International
- Vienna International
- London Heathrow
- Amsterdam Schiphol
- Fukuoka International
- Zurich
- Bahrain
