The World's Best Airports

South Korea's Incheon tops the list for the third year, Porto leads Europe, Dallas-Fort Worth wins first place stateside, and Ben Gurion is best in the Mideast

by Jennifer Fishbein

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In the often maddening, even degrading, world of modern air travel, check-in and security screenings can provoke as much ire as flight delays or lost luggage. The disgruntled check-in clerk who refuses your humble request for a window seat, the surly tax agent who insists on inspecting your every purchase before issuing a refund, the lewd security officer who delights in asking women to disrobe down to their underclothes, these characters and others have turned many a passenger sour on the prospect of flying.

But as a recent survey by Geneva-based Airports Council International points out, there are still some airports that seem unusually invested in the happiness of flyers. From thermal baths in Nagoya to free movies in Singapore to children's play areas in Kuala Lumpur, some airports offer dazzling amenities that make travel far more pleasant. And while the world's top five-ranked—all in Asia—are a long flight away from the U.S. and Europe, each region of the globe has its own star performers as well.

The annual survey, called the Airport Service Quality Awards, polled 200,000 passengers waiting at the gate in 90 airports on 34 indicators ranging from the availability of luggage carts to restroom cleanliness. South Korea's Incheon International Airport took first place for the third year running, followed by Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Changi Airport in Singapore, Hong Kong International Airport, and Central Japan International Airport in Nagoya.

Guayaquil Is Latin America's Top Airport

Regionally, Portugal's Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport in Porto took the prize for Europe; Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport again came in first in North America; Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, its first year in the survey, ranked first in the Middle East; O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg scored top marks in Africa, thanks in part to an overhaul for the 2010 Soccer World Cup; and José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport in Guayaquil, Ecuador, won the top spot in Latin America and the Caribbean after major renovations.

In Asia, the drive to please customers is linked to national pride, says Mark Adamson, project manager for the Airport Service Quality benchmarking program. These airports get a lot of international traffic and want tourists to see their country in a positive light. "A light, airy ambiance" is also essential, Adamson says. But while Asian countries have been expanding airports or building bigger ones to replace, old, overcrowded hubs (BusinessWeek, 1/23/07), European airports such as Heathrow have immense difficulty expanding on account of urban sprawl.

Speedy Security Clearance in Israel

A lack of financial resources also may lead to a lower ranking. Even airports with the most courteous staff will come up short if they cannot afford enough people to clean the bathrooms frequently. Technological upgrades, too, can work wonders for efficiency and dramatically improve travelers' moods. Israelis flying out of Ben Gurion undergo a biometric handprint check that speeds them through passport control in five seconds. If they purchase duty-free products before departure, they can leave them behind at the airport and retrieve them for use at home upon their return.

While most airports can't regulate the behavior of passport control agents and security officers, who are usually not airport employees, the Israel Airports Authority does, and it invests a lot of time and money in keeping the security screening process short and courteous without sacrificing quality. "Security doesn't mean that you have to be rude to somebody," says Zeev Sarig, managing director at Ben Gurion.

For a look at some of the cleanest, most efficient, and heartwarming airports around the globe, click on.

Fishbein is a reporter in BusinessWeek's Paris bureau .