Singapore Changi Airport has been voted the World’s Best Airport by air travellers at the 2016 Skytrax World Airport Awards. This is the fourth year in a row that Changi Airport has been honoured with this title, and it is the seventh time in sixteen years that the airport has clinched this top award.
This announcement was made on 17 March at the Awards, which were held at Passenger Terminal EXPO in Cologne, Germany. This year, more than 13.25 million travellers across 106 nationalities participated in the London-based Skytrax survey. Changi Airport was emerges as the Best Airport out of 550 airports across the globe which participated in the survey. Second and third place were claimed by South Korea’s Incheon International Airport and Germany’s Munich Airport respectively.
In addition, Changi Airport was also awarded Best Airport for Leisure Amenities. The mix of amenities at the airport includes music bar lounges, cinemas, a swimming pool, as well as napping and rest areas and the in-terminal Transit Hotel. Free sightseeing tours around Singapore are also available for commuters with more time to spare during stopovers.
Mr Jayson Goh, senior vice-president of airport operations management at Changi Airport Group (CAG), said that CAG has been taking steps to ensure standards are kept high for the airport’s customers. For instance, CAG has introduced staff appreciation awards and has also been responding to feedback from the public through online means, allowing CAG to constantly update and improve the airport’s facilities to best suit customer needs.
Mr Edward Plaisted, chief executive of Skytrax, commented that Changi Airport’s win is a clear indication of its popularity among air travellers. In response to the prestigious award CAG chief executive Lee Seow Hiang stated that such a recognition for Changi Airport would not be taken for granted, and he gave credit to the entire airport community, both passengers and partners, for their contributions to that led to the achievement of the airport’s high standards.
Moving forward, Changi Airport is slated to open a fourth passenger terminal by 2018, making room for an increase handling capacity to 82 million passengers a year, from 66 million currently. In the second half of the 2020s, a fifth terminal is also scheduled to be completed.
Visit Changi Airport’s website for the full press release on the World Airport Awards.
