Europe has the ‘best airports in the world’ — and the worst

Europe has the ‘best airports in the world’ — and the worst
By Alasdair Sandford
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High marks for Zurich, Istanbul and Copenhagen airports according to a survey of passengers. But four out of the five worst airports are also European.

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The best airports in the world are far and away to be found in Europe, says a survey of global travellers. No fewer than nine out of the top ten are European, according to a recent poll by the online travel agency eDreams.

Top spot, however, went to an airport in Asia with Singapore’s Changi Airport coming out best in the survey based on 50,000 passenger reviews from the past year.

It was followed by Zurich, Istanbul Ataturk, Copenhagen and Munich airports which filled the rest of the top five. All the airports in the second half of the top ten were European: Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Madrid-Barajas, Rome Fiumicino and London Heathrow.

Passengers were asked to list the features that mattered most to them, and to rate the restaurants, shopping facilities and waiting areas.

Zurich was named best airport in the world for waiting areas, and made its way into the top ratings in all categories. Travellers are treated to the sound of cowbells, Alpine horns when they take a transfer train – and also get the chance to take a selfie with a virtual Roger Federer (the Swiss tennis champion also pops up at the airports in Basel and Geneva).

Only three airports – Zurich, Munich and Frankfurt – survived from the list in 2017. Last year’s winner (Helsinki-Vantaa) and runner-up (Glasgow International) failed to make it into the 2018 top ten.

German airports featured strongly in the top ten – but also in the bottom five. Berlin’s Schoenefeld and Tegel airports were named 3rd and 4th worst respectively. Neither has been upgraded for some time and are due to be replaced by the new and much-postponed Berlin-Brandenburg Airport.

Rome also had an airport in the bottom five – Ciampino – as well as one in the top ten. London Luton Airport, the 5th worst, was also on last year’s worst airports list. Bottom of the pile, according to the passenger survey, was Morocco’s Casablanca Mohammed V Airport.

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