AIRPORT

Airport

Airport

Introduction

When it comes to airports, many travelers have a simple goal: Spend as little time there as possible. With the global recession causing airlines to cut back on services—and with travelers having less cash to spend at duty-free stores and other shops—the airport experience threatens to get even worse. One part of the world where a trip to the airport isn't so enervating, though, is Asia. In the annual survey of airport service quality by Geneva-based Airports Council International (ACI), Asian airports—Seoul, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Nagoya, Japan—won four of the five top spots. Nova Scotia's Halifax was the only non-Asian airport to be included in the top five.

More than 200,000 passengers at 126 airports from around the world took part in the quarterly airport surveys, measuring more than 30 elements of passenger experience and how well each element satisfies expectations. While Asian airports aren't immune to the economic downturn and the fall in airline traffic that has come with it, governments around the region are intent on maintaining their lead. Big expansion projects are underway, for instance, in Shanghai and Seoul. To read about the top performers, click on.

Top Ten Airports in Asia

Incheon International Airport

Airport bosses insist the strategy behind developing Incheon International Airport during the 1990s was to create a gateway to Korea. Following completion in 2001, the hub is now considered one of Asia's leading airports. The hub was built to replace Gimpo International Airport, which has since downgraded to mostly domestic flights. Several airlines operate from the hub - which has two runways - including Korean Air, United Airlines, Air China and Asiana Airlines.

Hong Kong International Airport

Hong Kong International Airport 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. Despite a relatively short history, Hong Kong International Airport has won seven Skytrax World Airport Awards for customer satisfaction in just ten years.

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, 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.

Zurich Switzerland

Zürich Airport also called Kloten Airport, is located in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland and managed ...