Suvarnabhumi’s ranking plummets in World’s Best Airports index

The results of this year’s World’s Best Airports awards are in, and in the last 10 years, Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi has taken a nosedive from number 13 to 66. The awards, voted for by passengers, are run annually by UK consultancy, Skytrax. This year’s results were decided by an online survey that ran for a 12-month period between August 2020 and July 2021. According to a Bangkok Post report, the rankings are widely seen as a benchmark for the global airports industry.

Taking top spot this year is Doha’s Hamad International Airport, which beat Singapore’s Changi into third place. The number 2 spot has been awarded to Haneda International Airport in Tokyo.

Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi has dropped from number 48 in 2020 to number 66 this year. In 2019, it held the number 46 spot and number 36 in 2018. However, all the way back in 2011, Suvarnabhumi was ranked at number 13.

The Bangkok Post reports that even before Covid-19, Suvarnabhumi was in trouble, struggling with overcrowding in its terminals and congestion in its skies. The overcrowding has been blamed on the slow pace of the airport’s expansion. Originally designed to handle 45 million passengers a year, Suvarnabhumi had 47 million in 2011 and 60 million in 2017.

However, during the pandemic, the airport did manage to complete the new Satellite 1 passenger terminal, a 4-storey building measuring 216,000 square metres. It boasts 28 bays, 8 of which can handle the jumbo Airbus A380. According to Airports of Thailand, the terminal will increase Suvarnabhumi’s capacity to 60 million passengers a year. It’s currently being used as a field hospital for Covid-19 patients.

Here are the top-placed airports in the 2021 World’s Best Airports rankings:

1. Hamad International Airport, Doha
2. Haneda International Airport, Tokyo
3. Changi Airport, Singapore
4. Incheon International Airport, Seoul
5. Narita International Airport, Tokyo
6. Munich Airport
7. Zurich Airport
8. London Heathrow
9. Kansai International Airport, Osaka
10. Hong Kong International Airport

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SOURCE: Bangkok Post