World Airport Awards 2009

World Airport Awards

The winners for 2009 are...

1. Incheon, Seoul, South Korea
2. Hong Kong, Hong Kong
3. Singapore Changi, Singapore
4. Zurich, Switzerland
5. Munich, Germany
6. Kansai, Osaka, Japan
7. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
8. Amsterdam, Netherlands
9. Centrair, Nagoya, New Zealand
10. Auckland, New Zealand

Airport Service Quality Awards 2007

Link

The Airports Council International recently announced the Airport Service Quality Awards 2007 winners, in Shanghai.

Here are the results:

BEST AIRPORTS WORLDWIDE
1) Incheon, South Korea
2) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
3) Singapore
4) Hong Kong
5) Central Japan (NGO)

BEST AIRPORT BY REGION

Africa
1) Johannesburg, South Africa
2) Cape Town, South Africa
3) Durban, South Africa
4) Nairobi, Kenya

Asia-Pacific
1) Incheon, South Korea
2) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
3) Singapore
4) Hong Kong
5) Central Japan (NGO)

Europe
1) Oporto, Portugal
2) Zurich, Switzerland
3=) Helsinki, Finland
3=) Munich, Germany
5) Southampton, UK

Latin America & Caribbean
1) Guayaquil, Ecuador
2) San José, Costa Rica
3) Mexico City, Mexico
4) Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago
5) Curaçao, Antilles

Middle East
1) Tel Aviv, Israel
2) Doha, Qatar
3) Abu Dhabi, UAE
4) Muscat, Oman

North America
1) Dallas Fort Worth, USA
2) Halifax, Canada
3) Ottawa, Canada
4) San Diego, USA
5) Detroit Metropolitan, USA

BEST AIRPORT BY SIZE OF AIRPORT

fewer than 5 million passengers
1) Halifax, Canada
2) Ottawa, Canada
3) Guayaquil, Ecuador
4) Porto, Portugal
5) Cairns, Australia

5 – 15 million passengers
1) Central Japan (NGO)
2) Tel Aviv, Israel
3) Auckland, New Zealand
4) Christchurch, New Zealand
5) Adelaide, Australia

15 – 25 million passengers
1) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2) San Diego, USA
3) Zurich, Switzerland
4) Vancouver, Canada
5) Melbourne, Australia

25 – 40 million passengers
1) Incheon, South Korea
2) Singapore
3) Detroit Metropolitan, USA
4) Minneapolis St. Paul, USA
5) Munich, Germany

over 40 million
1) Hong Kong
2) Dallas Fort Worth, USA
3) Denver, USA
4) Houston George Bush, USA
5) Amsterdam, Netherlands

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That second part got me interested in the 'size' (number of passengers annually) of certain airports so I looked it up (all are approximate numbers of course).

The order changes a bit depending on sources but the busiest international airports are:

1. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport - 84,846,639
2. O'Hare International Airport (Chicago) - 77,028,134
3. Heathrow Airport (London) - 67,530,197
4. Haneda Airport (Tokyo) - 65,810,672
5. Los Angeles International Airport - 61,041,066
6. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport - 60,226,138
7. Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport - 56,849,567
8. Frankfurt Airport - 52,810,683
9. Beijing Capital International Airport - 48,654,770
10. Denver International Airport - 47,325,016
11. McCarran International Airport (Las Vegas) - 46,193,329
12. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol - 46,065,719
13. Madrid Barajas Airport - 45,501,168
14. Hong Kong International Airport - 43,857,908
15. John F. Kennedy International Airport (New York City) - 43,762,282
16. Bangkok International Airport - 42,799,532
17. George Bush Intercontinental Airport (Houston) - 42,550,432
18. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport - 41,436,737
19. Newark Liberty International Airport (New Jersey) - 36,724,167
20. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport - 35,972,673
21. Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport - 35,612,133
22. Singapore Changi Airport - 35,033,083
23. Narita International Airport (Tokyo) - 34,975,225
24. Orlando International Airport - 34,640,451
25. London Gatwick Airport - 34,172,492
26. San Francisco International Airport - 33,574,807
27. Miami International Airport - 32,533,974
28. Philadelphia International Airport - 31,768,272
29. Toronto Pearson International Airport - 30,972,577
30. Munich Airport - 30,757,978

More airports/stats here.

(From what I can gather Shanghai Pudong: 20+ million, Sydney Kingsford Smith: 29 million)

Interesting fact:

Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
The worlds busiest domestic-only airport until service began to Tokyo in October 2007. It only handles 19.3 million passengers, but only defeated Chicago Midway International Airport by around 0.5 million passengers. The international passenger services are served by Shanghai Pudong International Airport, which handles around 60% of the traffic within Shanghai. It is 15th busiest in Asia and 62nd busiest in the world.

Shanghai Pudong Airport - Terminal 2 opened

Related post



Shanghai Daily Link

TERMINAL 2 - huge, sparkling new and state of the art - officially began operations at Pudong International Airport yesterday.

This reporter, on dawn patrol, was there to watch proceedings unfold. And, apart from a slight hitch in ticket markings, the facility came through with flying colors.

Yao Mei, a Chinese businessman, became a rather bewildered celebrity as he was the first passenger to check in at the Shanghai Airlines' counter at 6:15am.

Yao caught Flight 9545 to Chongqing City. "I felt nothing special ... only that the check-in procedure went impressively quick," said Yao, surrounded by a media throng of flashing cameras and microphones.

The pedestrian and shuttle-bus services that connect the two terminal buildings also officially opened yesterday.

Linking corridors are supported by automatic walkways. It takes about 10 minutes for passengers to complete the walk between the two terminal halls.

The shuttle buses leave every 10 minutes on a trip that takes just three minutes.

But confusion over whether flights leave from Terminal 1 or 2 is a problem that may take a few days to rectify.

"We hope highly visible tags are pasted somewhere on the tickets to show whether they are for T1 or T2," said a Shanghai man on board a shuttle bus. His daughter was catching a flight that left from the new terminal early yesterday.

Fifteen airlines moved from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 yesterday, while 18 will relocate on April 29.

Terminal 2 is easy to negotiate. Clearly marked signs indicate areas for taxies, long-distance buses, the Maglev station, parking lots, terminal-shuttle buses and linking corridors.

Terminal 2 drew much praise.

"It's comfortable and very spacious," said a female traveler, surnamed Wang, who was heading for Changchun City from Terminal 2. "I like the carpets. The new terminal facilities are equal to airports in Singapore and Australia, where I have traveled."

About 120,000 square meters of carpet has been laid.

Lots of photos and a 'review' can be found on Wang Jian Shuo's blog. Coincidently Beijing's terminal 3 just opened too.

That's one thing I admire about the Chinese. When they want to get things done, they get them done, and quickly! They don't fluff about like some other certain people...

Shanghai Pudong airport's Terminal 2 and Terminal 3

When I was coming back home from the airport on the night of the 4th, in sub-zero temperatures, at around midnight, I had a fairly long conversation with the taxi driver. While we were driving out of the airport he commented to me that the second terminal is finished and due to open in March 2008.

I'm surprised that a airport that is fairly new (opened in 1999) has had need for another terminal already, but given the upcoming Olympics and the economy of the country and growing affluence of its people, I guess it's no surprise.

Now, while I was searching for information on this I discovered that Shanghai is planning on building a third terminal already!

http://www.syml.cn/html/logistics_freight7.html

Shanghai Pudong International Airport will build a third passenger terminal and two more runways by 2015 to meet rising air travel demand, Wu Nianzu, chairman of Shanghai Airport Authority, said yesterday.

The expansion will further boost the capacity of the city's bigger airport to 80 million passengers a year and six million tons of freight in 2015.

"Pudong Airport became the world's sixth busiest airport in terms of capacity last year. With the forthcoming Olympics and the World Expo, the airport will play a more important role," said Wu. "To expand the airport is not a local strategy, but a strategy to serve the development of the Yangtze River Delta region and the whole nation."

Wow.

When I first went to Pudong airport in 2005 I had high expectations. I knew it was a newish airport and a fairly large one but when I got there I was extremely disappointed. The reason is because I have used Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok airport as a benchmark and it doesn't compare. The reason it doesn't compare is because there was absolutely nothing to do there! The shops are lacking and the food places.. er... I don't even recall any. There isn't even enough seating in the waiting area. Not only is it boring it is freezing as they don't heat it enough (in winter).

Fortunately, I have read (in That's Shanghai magazine) that they are using Select Service Provider (SSP) (a UK company providing food and beverage to airports) in Terminal 2 so we can expect to see 22 new restaurants, cafes, and bars which sounds kinda exciting and promising. The company has a contract with Pudong airport for 10 years so it should be good.

On another note I absolutely love Hong Kong's airport. People rave about Singapore's Changi airport which is also nice but I feel it just doesn't compare. Other airports I really liked are Kuala Lumpur's and Dubai's. Nobody likes waiting but when there is lots to see and do at the airport I make more of an effort to get there early. I love the open layout of HK's airport and the modern design. I love that there are so many choices for food and shopping. Even though I don't really plan on buying much at the airport I just love browsing through random stuff. As well as that, they have little mini exhibitions throughout the terminal too and free wireless internet and internet stands. What more could you want?


READ MORE HERE