Suvarnabhumi named fifth-best airport in Agoda survey

Travellers were asked to rate 15 airports in Asia – Bangkok, Beijing, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, New Delhi, Phnom Penh, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, Vientiane and Yangon. The rating, on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent), was based on more than 11,000 respondents.

Suvarnabhumi won a score of 3.79, trailing Singapore’s Changi International Airport (4.37), Hong Kong International Airport (4.13), Seoul Incheon International Airport (4.01) and Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (4).

In fifth spot, Suvarnabhumi Airport handled 48 million passengers in 2012 after opening in 2006. As one of the most centrally located airports in Asia, it is a major transit and cargo hub and, interestingly, has the tallest control tower of any airport in the world.

Changi Airport came in first. Known for its hyper-efficiency and consistent investments in improvements and upgrades, it features in the top three of nearly every airport ranking in the world. Last year, Changi handled 51 million passengers.

Second spot with a rating of 4.13 went to Hong Kong International Airport, which, similar to Changi, usually places very high on any ranking thanks to its convenient transit links and high-technology design on a huge chunk of reclaimed land in the South China Sea. Last year Hong Kong Airport handled 56 million passengers.

Rounding out the top three is Seoul’s Incheon International Airport, which handled 39 million passengers last year. Interestingly, the airport holds a record that is now unbreakable – it was named the Best Airport Worldwide by the Airports Council International for a record seven years (2005-2011), and the award was discontinued after its final win.

Following this was Indira Gandhi International Airport. In a country of 1.2 billion people, it handled 34 million passengers in 2012, and has won several awards over the past few years for its rapid improvement. Plans are in place to allow it to handle 100 million passengers per year by 2030, quite a lofty goal.

At No 6 is Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, which handles the majority of international traffic in and out of Tokyo – a total of 33 million passengers in 2012 – and is a model of efficient design and management.

In seventh place is Kuala Lumpur International Airport, which handled 40 million passengers last year. Noted for its distance from the city it serves – 60 kilometres – it is also one of the largest airports in terms of area used, which encompasses largely agricultural land across 10,000 hectares.

Coming up next is Beijing Capital Airport, which handled a staggering 82 million passengers last year, second only to Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2004, Beijing Capital began construction on the gargantuan Terminal 3 to prepare for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Ninth spot is filled by Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport, which handled 28 million passengers in 2012. First opened in 1979 with a single terminal, it opened a second one in 2000 and a third is planned to be finished by 2018, which will be able to handle 43 million passengers.

The 10th-best is Phnom Penh International Airport in Cambodia, by far the smallest on the list with only 2 million passengers last year. Despite its tiny size – or perhaps because of it – Agoda.com customers thought it was one of the nicest airports in Asia. Interesting fact: Despite being about 160km from the ocean, this airport has an elevation of only 12 metres above sea level.

Airport rankings |in Asia’s largest cities

 

Rank Name Average

customer

ranking

1. Changi International Airport 4.37

2. Hong Kong International Airport 4.13

3. Seoul Incheon International Airport 4.01

4. Indira Gandhi International Airport 4.00

5. Suvarnabhumi Airport 3.79

6. Narita International Airport 3.69

7. Kuala Lumpur International Airport 3.56

8. Beijing Capital International Airport 3.48

9. Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport 3.38

10. Phnom Penh International Airport 3.14

11. Soekarno-Hatta International Airport 2.95

12. Tan Son Nhat International Airport 2.91

13. Yangon International Airport 2.81

14. Vientiane – Wattay Airport 2.74

15. Manila International Airport 2.36

 

Source: Agoda.com