Top 9 Best Airports in the World 2010

Here’s a list of the best airports in the world 2010 based on Skytrax. As we know airport is one of the most important infrastructure in a country as just by using airport people can enter to and go from a country easily. Without a good airport, people won’t come with comfortable to a country. So let’s take a look at top 9 best airports in the world 2010.

9. Auckland International Airport

Auckland Airport is the largest and busiest airport in New Zealand with over 13 million (estimated at 7 million international and 6 million domestic) passengers a year, expected to more than double by 2025. The airport is in Mangere, a western suburb of Manukau City, and is 21 km south of Auckland City centre. It is the central hub for Air New Zealand.

Auckland Airport is one of New Zealand’s most important infrastructure assets, providing thousands of jobs for the region, and is the country’s second largest cargo ‘port’ by value, contributing around $14 billion to the economy, and catering for over four million visitors each year, resulting in a 70% share of New Zealand’s international travellers.

The airport is the fourth busiest in Australasia after Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane airports. However, internationally, the airport is the second busiest in Australasia, being a third busier than Melbourne Airport in terms of international passengers. The airport has also been rated in the top 3 worldwide for airports handling 5–15 million passengers annually.

Auckland International Airport

8. Beijing Capital International Airport

Beijing Capital International Airport, is the main international airport of Beijing, China. It is located 32 km 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 1999 extension (Construction of Terminal 2) was financed by ODA (Low interest loan) provided by the Japanese government. 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 also the 3rd busiest airport in the world with 65,329,851 passengers passing through the airport in 2009. The airport registered 488,495 aircraft movements (take-offs and landings), which ranked 10th in the world, 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

7. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (IATA: AMS, ICAO: EHAM) is the Netherlands’ main international airport, located 20 minutes southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer. The airport’s official English name, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, places the words in the Dutch order (Luchthaven Schiphol) instead of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The airport used to have the IATA code of SPL, which has fallen into disuse and has been replaced by AMS.

Schiphol is an important European airport, ranking as Europe’s 3rd largest and the world’s 14th largest for cargo tonnage. It also ranks as the world’s 3rd largest by international passenger traffic as well as Europe’s 5th and the world’s 14th busiest by overall passenger volume. Additionally, Schiphol ranks as Europe’s 5th and the world’s 17th busiest airport by number of flights, handling 446,569 traffic movements in 2008, a 1.7% drop on 2007. Schiphol’s main competitors as in passenger and cargo throughput with London Heathrow Airport, Frankfurt Airport, Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport and Madrid-Barajas Airport. In 2007, Schiphol handled 47,430,019 passengers in 2008, 0.8% down on 2007, ranking it fifth in Europe behind London, Paris, Frankfurt and Madrid. There are 188 loading slots in the whole airport.

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

6. Zurich Airport

Zürich Airport (IATA: ZRH, ICAO: LSZH) also called Kloten Airport, is located in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland and managed by Unique Airport. It is Switzerland’s largest international flight gateway and hub to Swiss International Air Lines. It is partially in Kloten, partially in Rümlang, and partially in Oberglatt. Skyguide is responsible for all Air Traffic Control for Zürich.

In 2003, Zürich Airport completed a major expansion project in which it built a new parking garage, a new midfield terminal, and an automated underground train to move passengers between the existing terminal complex and the new terminal. In November 2008, Unique Company announced a complete renovation and rebuild of the old fingerdock ‘B’ structure. The visitor terrace will be temporarily closed during construction, but airport officials announced that a terrace will be included in the new structure.

Zurich Airport

5. Kuala Lumpur International Airport

Kuala Lumpur International Airport (IATA: KUL, ICAO: WMKK) commonly known as KLIA is one of Southeast Asia’s major aviation hubs. It is also Malaysia’s main international airport. It is situated in the Sepang district, in the south of the state of Selangor, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) from the capital city, Kuala Lumpur. KLIA was built at a cost of $3.5 billion.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport is capable of handling 35 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo a year in its current phase. As of 2007, it was ranked as the 13th busiest airport in the world by international passenger traffic, and is the 7th busiest international airport in Asia. The complex handled 26,938,970 passengers in 2007, a 13.0% increase over 2005. In 2008, Kuala Lumpur International Airport handled 667,495 metric tonnes of cargo, which is a 2.2% increase compared to 2007. The increase in cargo volume made Kuala Lumpur International Airport the 27th busiest airport by cargo traffic.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport

4. Munich Airport

Munich Franz Josef Strauss Airport (IATA: MUC, ICAO: EDDM) (German: Flughafen München-Franz Josef Strauß), is located 28.5 km (17.7 mi) northeast of Munich, Germany, and is a hub for Lufthansa and Star Alliance partner airlines. It lies in direct proximity to the old city of Freising and is named in memory of politician Franz Josef Strauss. The airport is located on the territory of three different municipalities: Oberding (location of the terminals; district of Erding), Hallbergmoos and Marzling (district of Freising).

Munich Airport is the second busiest airport in Germany in terms of passenger traffic (34.73 million in 2008), behind Frankfurt Airport while it is the world’s 14th busiest airport in terms of international passenger traffic.

Munich Airport

3. Hong Kong International Airport

Hong Kong International Airport (IATA: HKG, ICAO: VHHH) is the main airport in Hong Kong. It is colloquially known as Chek Lap Kok Airport, because it was 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.
HKIA also operates one of the world’s largest passenger terminal buildings 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 Airways, Dragonair, Hong Kong Express Airways, Hong Kong Airlines, Air Hong Kong (cargo) and Asia Jet (private). It is a secondary hub for Air New Zealand, to a lesser extent Qantas and Virgin Atlantic, all of which use Hong Kong as a stopover point for flights on the Kangaroo Route between Australasia and Europe. United Airlines also uses Hong Kong as a stopover point for flights from the United States to Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City. In the near future, Garuda Indonesia is considering making Hong Kong their transit hub for flights to Europe.

Hong Kong International Airport

2. Incheon International Airport

Incheon International Airport (IIA) (IATA: ICN, ICAO: RKSI) is the largest airport in South Korea, and one of the largest and busiest in the world. Since 2005, it has been consecutively rated as the best airport in the world by the Airports Council International and received the full 5-star ranking by Skytrax, the prestigious recognition shared only by Hong Kong International Airport and Singapore Changi Airport. 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 opened for business in early 2001, replacing the older Gimpo International Airport, which now serves only domestic destinations plus shuttle flights to Tokyo (Haneda), Shanghai (Hongqiao) and Osaka (Kansai). 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 fifth busiest airport in terms of cargo and freight, and the world’s eleventh busiest airport in terms of international passengers in 2006.

Incheon International Airport

1. Singapore Changi Airport

Singapore Changi Airport (IATA: SIN, ICAO: WSSS), Changi International Airport, or simply Changi 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. As of April 2008, Changi Airport handled about 4,340 weekly flights operated by 80 airlines to 130 cities in 59 countries. The airport is a secondary hub for Qantas Airways, 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 Singapore economy, 13,000 people are employed at the airport, which accounts for over S$4.5 billion in output.

In 2007, the airport handled a record 36,701,556 passengers, a 4.8% increase over the 2006 fiscal year. This made it the 19th busiest airport in the world and the fifth busiest in Asia by passenger traffic in 2007. In addition to being an important passenger hub, the airport is one of the busiest cargo airports in the world, handling 1.89 million tons of cargo in 2007

Singapore Changi Airport