Nigeria missing as Skytrax names best African airports of 2024

Cape Town International Airport in South Africa has been named the continent's best airport for 2024.

Skytrax, a UK-based airline and airport review and ranking site, announced the ratings on Wednesday at the World Airport Awards in Frankfurt, Germany.

Annually since 1999, Skytrax surveys over 570 airports and evaluates traveller experiences across different airports. It also highlights key performance indicators.

Respondents are polled on a variety of areas, from check-in, arrivals, transfers, shopping, security and immigration, through to departure.

Data for the latest rankings were collected between August 2023 to March 2024 from more than 100 nationals, Skytrax said.

South Africa shone in the ratings on the continent, taking home three awards.

Asides ranking first on the list, Cape Town airport also took home 'Best airport staff service in Africa' while Durban King Shaka Airport, which came second, had an additional award for 'Best regional airport in Africa'.

Johannesburg's Tambo International Airport came third, while the Mohammed V International Airport serving Casablanca, Morocco, polled fourth.

At fifth place was Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport in Mauritius, with Morocco making another entry via Menara Airport in Marrakesh for sixth place.

Addis Ababa's Bole International Airport, the hub of Ethiopian Airline, was ranked seventh, while the Kigali International Airport in Rwanda scooped the eight spot.

Cairo International Airport in Egypt took the ninth position while Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport had the tenth place.

Neither the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, nor the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial hub, made the rankings.

Ibrahim Idris, a former inspector-general of police, had once compared the Abuja airport to "a world class airport like you see in Dubai".

Former President Muhammadu Buhari had promised that his administration would deliver world class airport infrastructure to Lagos.

SINGAPORE LOSES POSITION TO QATAR

Doha's Hamad International Airport in Qatar was named the 'World's best airport 2024' and also won awards for the 'World's best airport shopping' and the 'Best airport in the Middle East'.

The airport is the home of Qatar Airways, the national carrier.

Singapore's Changi Airport, '2023 Airport of the year' winner and 12-times previous winner, dropped to second place in the global ranking, winning awards for the 'Best airport in Asia' and the 'World's best airport immigration service'.

Seoul Incheon Airport, which moved up to third place, was named the 'World's most family friendly airport', while Tokyo's Haneda Airport came in at fourth place and was declared the 'World's cleanest airport', 'World's best domestic airport', and delivering the 'World's best airport PRM & accessible facilities'.

Rome's Fiumicino Airport picked up the award for 'World's best airport security processing' and Istanbul's airport was voted 'World's best airport dining experience'.

Below are the lists for the world's best airports and the Africa ranking.

THE WORLD'S TOP 20 AIRPORTS FOR 2024

Doha Hamad Airport
Singapore Changi Airport
Seoul Incheon Airport
Tokyo Haneda Airport
Tokyo Narita Airport
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
Dubai Airport
Munich Airport
Zurich Airport
Istanbul Airport
Hong Kong Airport
Rome Fiumicino Airport
Vienna Airport
Helsinki-Vantaa
Madrid-Barajas
Centrair Nagoya Airport
Vancouver Airport
Kansai Airport
Melbourne Airport
Copenhagen Airport