World’s 20th best airport: Vancouver International Airport soars in rankings

It’s that time again. At an industry celebration held in Amsterdam today, Skytrax announced the recipients of the 2023 World Airports Awards, the world’s most prestigious and recognized awards in the airline industry.

Based on tens of thousands of surveys of travelers around the world, Vancouver International Airport (YVR) is now the 20th best airport in the world.

This represents a significant increase of eight places from YVR’s previous global ranking of 28th in 2022 year-over-year.

During the late 2000s and first half of the 2010s, YVR was regularly ranked as one of the top 10 airports in the world, but over the past decade it has become far more competitive with the completion of new and improved airports around the world.

YVR has been pushed out of the top 10 global rankings as of 2015; YVR ranked ninth in 2012, 2013 8th, 2014 9th, 2015 11th, 2016 14th, 2017 13th, 2018 14th, 2019 17th, 2020 13th th place and 24th place in 2021.

YVR’s long-running streak of being named Best Airport in North America by Skytrax also ended in 2022 after 12 consecutive years.

For the second year in a row, YVR was beaten for the North American title by Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). YVR is North America’s second busiest airport in 2023, just ahead of Houston William Hobby International Airport.

SEA now surpasses YVR primarily due to its immensely improved passenger experience following the opening of its massive $1.2 billion international terminal building expansion in Spring 2022. SEA is also now the 18th best airport in the world, up from 27th. place in 2022.

YVR’s 2023 ranking is also likely to have improved with the help of the full opening of Pier D’s international terminal building extension in June 2022.

Vancouver International Airport will be awarded the “Best Airport in North America” ​​between 2010 and 2021. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Of course, international airports may vary in terms of facilities, customer service and quality of maintenance depending on their wide passenger traffic.

YVR saw a strong surge of 19 million passengers in 2022. In Skytrax’s 2023 rankings based on passenger traffic, particularly for airports that saw between 10 and 20 million passengers last year, YVR ranked fifth – behind Seoul Incheon International Airport and Tokyo Narita International Airport , Helsinki Airport and Melbourne Airport.

In addition, YVR is ranked as the cleanest airport in North America in 2023, just ahead of SEA.

The Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel, attached to the United States Cross Border Wing of Vancouver International Airport, is named the third best airport hotel in the world and the best airport hotel in North America.

In terms of the performance of other major Canadian airports, Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) was ranked 64th globally in 2023 – a significant decrease from 43rd place in 2022. YYZ, of course, had a particularly challenging year providing one optimal passenger experience in the past year.

But in the ranking of the best airports, which recorded between 30 and 40 million passengers last year, YYZ ranked sixth, right behind Singapore’s Changi Airport, Doha Hamad International Airport, Munich Airport, Bogota Airport and the airport London Gatwick.

Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport ranked 45th globally in 2023, a significant increase from 66th in 2022. He is also the fifth best in North America.

Calgary also rose in the rankings for 2023, reaching 92nd place globally – up from 125th place in 2022.

The world’s best airport in 2023 is Singapore Changi Airport, followed by Doha Hamad International Airport, Tokyo Haneda International Airport, Seoul Incheon International Airport and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

The best airports in the world 2023: Skytrax

1. Singapore Changi Airport
2. Hamad International Airport
3. Tokyo International Airport (Haneda)
4. Incheon International Airport
5. Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
6. Istanbul Airport
7. Munich Airport
8. airport Zurich
9. Narita International Airport
10. Madrid Barajas Airport
11. Vienna Airport
12. Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
13. Rome Fiumicino Airport
14. Copenhagen Airport
15. Kansai International Airport
16. Chubu Centrair International Airport
17. Dubai International Airport
18. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
19. Melbourne Airport
20. Vancouver International Airport
21. Dusseldorf International Airport
22. London Heathrow Airport
23. Brisbane Airport
24. Guangzhou International Airport
25. Frankfurt Airport
26. Bahrain International Airport
27. Riyadh airport
28. Haikou Meilan Airport
29. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
30. Fukuoka Airport

North America’s Best Airports 2023: Skytrax

1. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
2. Vancouver International Airport
3. Houston William Hobby International Airport
4. Houston George Bush International Airport
5. Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport
6. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport
7. San Francisco International Airport
8. New York LaGuardia Airport.
9. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
10. Los Angeles International Airport

North America’s Cleanest Airports 2023: Skytrax

1. Vancouver International Airport
2. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
3. Terminal B of New York LaGuardia Airport
4. Houston William Hobby International Airport
5. San Francisco International Airport
6. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport
7. Boston-Logan International Airport
8. Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport
9. Houston George Bush International Airport
10. Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport

North America’s Best Airport Crew 2023: Skytrax

1. Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport
2. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
3. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport
4. San Francisco International Airport
5. Vancouver International Airport
6. Houston William Hobby International Airport
7. Calgary International Airport
8. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
9. Denver International Airport
10. San Antonio International Airport

The World’s Best Airport Hotels 2023: Skytrax

1. Crowne Plaza Changi Airport
2. Hyatt Regency Shenzhen Airport
3. Fairmont Vancouver Airport
4. Movenpick Hotel Bahrain
5. TWA Hotel New York John F Kennedy
6. Airport Hilton Schiphol
7. Pullman Guangzhou Airport
8. Hilton Airport Munich
9. Sofitel London Heathrow
10. Pullman Brisbane Airport