MADRID – The annual AirHelp Score 2022 ranking of the best airports in Europe includes two Spanish airports, after assessing the excellence of their services, punctuality, claims processing and quality of their operations.
Tokyo International Airport is ranked number 1. However, Brazil has managed to place five airports among the 12 best in the world. In Spain, Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas and Bilbao International Airport are among the best in Europe. The results looked at ‘on-time performance’, asking travellers for their opinion on staff, waiting times and hygiene at the airports they used most recently. Travellers could also give their opinion about the catering and shopping facilities at the airports.
Madrid, Bilbao and Barcelona
The classification places Madrid-Barajas Airport twelfth among the best airports in the world and first in the classification of all European airports, with a score of 8.25 points. Madrid-Barajas has presented an improvement by rising 21 places in the world rankings compared to the last report, prepared in 2019, in which it appeared at number 33.
The next national airport to appear in the ranking is Bilbao airport, which ranks 24th in the overall ranking and 2nd in the European ranking, with a score of 8.05.
The third Spanish airport in ranking at place 53 in the world is Barcelona-El Prat Josep Tarradellas with a score of 7.68. El Prat airport also shows an improvement in the ranking after an increase of 50 positions compared to 2019.
Japan and Brazil, countries with the best airports in the world
The first airport in the world ranking is Tokyo Haneda International Airport (Japan), with a score of 8.83. While in the second position of the global ranking is the Recife-Guararapes International Airport (Brazil), with 8.52 points. The third place goes to another Japanese, Tokyo Narita International (8.49). Brazil, for its part, has managed to place five airports among the 12 best in the world.
Airport Service Quality Awards 2021
A tour of other rankings of the best airports in Europe turns out to yield quite different results, depending of course on the research method and question. For example, the Airport Service Quality Awards 2021 do not feature Spanish airports. For this study, approximately 600,000 passengers are interviewed each year at the airport shortly before boarding. They indicate to what extent they are satisfied with the airport’s services. Rome-Fiumicino was number one this year.
World Airport Awards
Another list is the World Airport Awards from the research agency Skytrax from the United Kingdom. Only Madrid-Barajas is number eight there. Skytrax is highly regarded in the aviation industry and conducts annual research into the quality of airports and airlines around the world. The World Airport Awards are presented based on nearly 14 million completed questionnaires. Paris – Charles de Gaulle was at the top.
World Travel Awards
For yet another ranking, the nominations and eventual winners are chosen by travel professionals from around the world. Barcelona – El Prat airport was nominated in the last World Travel Awards, but the eventual winner was again Zurich Airport. This airport has been voted the best airport in Europe since 2004.
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