Singapore loses ‘world’s best airport’ title, Melbourne top in Australia

“We know there is still a lot of work to do, particularly in our international arrivals area, and that’s why we are working with our airline partners on future infrastructure plans, including an expanded international terminal and our third runway,” he said.

“There will be disruptions while we complete these works, but they are essential projects that will ensure we continue to grow in line with our city, and that we remain Australia’s favourite airport destination.”

One infrastructure project that has stalled, however, is the planned rail link to the city. The Victorian government has spent at least $67 million to delay the project while it tries to resolve a dispute with the airport’s owners over whether the train station should be above or below ground.

On Thursday, the airport announced Qantas’ domestic terminal would finally have new security scanners installed, allowing passengers to pass through without having to remove laptops, tablets or aerosols from their luggage. A temporary screening point is set to open in August and the works are due to be completed by December 2025.

The new security technology was introduced at Melbourne’s Terminal 4 in 2019 but major airports including Sydney and Brisbane have still not installed it in all terminals, despite a federal government edict to do so.

Elsewhere in the award results, Europe continued to have a strong showing, with Paris Charles de Gaulle, Munich, Zurich and Istanbul all maintaining positions in the top 10.

Once again US airports were nowhere to be seen near the top of the table. The highest ranked, Seattle-Tacoma, slipped six places to 24.

In other moves, New York’s JFK fell five places to 93rd; LaGuardia rose from 57 to 33; London Heathrow jumped one spot to 21st, while Gatwick was up seven to 48th; Japan’s Okinawa was the biggest climber, from 199th to 91st position.

The win for Qatar’s airport comes shortly after Australia’s Federal Court ruled that three women who launched legal action against Qatar Airways after they were invasively searched at the airport cannot sue because of the rules that govern international air travel.

The women, who are represented by Marque Lawyers, were granted leave to re-plead their claim against a third party – the Qatar government’s airport company, MATAR.

The top 20 World’s Best Airports of 2024, alongside last year’s rankings:

1. Doha Hamad (2)
2. Singapore Changi (1)
3. Seoul Incheon (4)
4. Tokyo Haneda (3)
5. Tokyo Narita (9)
6. Paris CDG (5)
7. Dubai (17)
8. Munich (7)
9. Zurich (8)
10. Istanbul (6)
11. Hong Kong (33)
12. Rome Fiumicino (13)
13. Vienna (11)
14. Helsinki-Vantaa (12)
15. Madrid-Barajas (10)
16. Centrair Nagoya (16)
17. Vancouver (20)
18. Kansai (15)
19. Melbourne (19)
20. Copenhagen (14)

With Bloomberg