Madrid's airport ranked best in Spain and Europe in 2022
Two recent rankings of the world's best airports reveal how Spain's airports fair against their European counterparts and the famed luxury travel hubs of Asia and the Middle East, with Madrid's Barajas the clear national winner.
With all the recent news of airline strikes and walkouts by airport staff in Spain, how good are the country’s airports really, and what are they like when everything is running normally?
Spain received 63 million international tourists in 2022 (as of December 2nd, 2022), and Spanish airport traffic has recovered 96 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
So how do passengers rate their experience of using the country's airports?
Recently, there have been two different airport awards – the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2022 and the airport ranking by claims management company AirHelp, both of which looked at the overall quality of international airports, from the staff to the ease of getting around to their facilities.
The annual AirHelp 2022 ranking, which has been going since 2015, is based on data from airlines and airports around the world and has revealed that Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suárez is the best in Europe and the 12th best in the world.
Madrid-Barajas received a total of 8.25 points out of 10 with a score of 8.26 for punctuality, 8.19 for customer satisfaction and 8.30 for leisure spaces, shops and restaurants. The airport had greatly improved, climbing 21 places compared with 2019, when it came in at number 33 on the list.
The second-best Spanish airport on the list was Bilbao coming in at number 24 and also ahead of the rest of Europe. Bilbao had a total score of 8.05, with 8.39 for punctuality, 7.81 for user satisfaction, and 7.28 for shops and restaurants.
The rest of the European airports don’t appear until number 49 on the list and the rest of the Spanish airports aren’t seen until number 53 which is Barcelona El Prat.
READ ALSO: The strike dates to avoid when travelling to and from Spain this Christmas
It received a score of 7.68, 7.60 for punctuality, 7.72 for customer satisfaction, and 7.85 for shops and restaurants. Despite this low ranking, it had improved significantly since 2019 when it was 103rd on the list.
The top airport in the world on the AirHelp list was Tokyo Haneda International Airport in Japan.
The Skytrax Top 100 Airports for 2022 was voted for by air travellers around the world in the 2021/2022 World Airport Survey and it listed Madrid Barajas came at number 16 in the world.
The Spanish capital’s airport had climbed from number 20 in 2021 but was still below some other European airports such as Paris Charles de Gaul at number six, Munich at number seven and Zurich at number nine.
The survey asked users for their opinion on the world’s best airport but also asked for factors such as public transport serving the airport, taxi prices from the airport, Covid-19 protocols such as the use of masks and hand sanitiser, signage in the airport, walking distance to arrivals, service of the staff, cleanliness, wi-fi availability and waiting times for immigration among others.
Barcelona El Prat came in at number 23, which had also improved since 2021 when it was number 39.
Other Spanish airports that made the top 100 in the world were Málaga at number 97, Alicante at number 98 and Palma de Mallorca at 100.
Doha Hamad airport in Qatar was revealed to be the best airport in the world for 2022 according to the Skytrax awards and Tokyo Haneda was in second place.
So although Spain's airports are not as highly rated and multifaceted as those in major travel hubs in Asia and the Middle East, the conclusion from both international rankings is that Madrid's Barajas stands out as one of the best in Europe.
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With all the recent news of airline strikes and walkouts by airport staff in Spain, how good are the country’s airports really, and what are they like when everything is running normally?
Spain received 63 million international tourists in 2022 (as of December 2nd, 2022), and Spanish airport traffic has recovered 96 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
So how do passengers rate their experience of using the country's airports?
Recently, there have been two different airport awards – the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2022 and the airport ranking by claims management company AirHelp, both of which looked at the overall quality of international airports, from the staff to the ease of getting around to their facilities.
The annual AirHelp 2022 ranking, which has been going since 2015, is based on data from airlines and airports around the world and has revealed that Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suárez is the best in Europe and the 12th best in the world.
Madrid-Barajas received a total of 8.25 points out of 10 with a score of 8.26 for punctuality, 8.19 for customer satisfaction and 8.30 for leisure spaces, shops and restaurants. The airport had greatly improved, climbing 21 places compared with 2019, when it came in at number 33 on the list.
The second-best Spanish airport on the list was Bilbao coming in at number 24 and also ahead of the rest of Europe. Bilbao had a total score of 8.05, with 8.39 for punctuality, 7.81 for user satisfaction, and 7.28 for shops and restaurants.
The rest of the European airports don’t appear until number 49 on the list and the rest of the Spanish airports aren’t seen until number 53 which is Barcelona El Prat.
READ ALSO: The strike dates to avoid when travelling to and from Spain this Christmas
It received a score of 7.68, 7.60 for punctuality, 7.72 for customer satisfaction, and 7.85 for shops and restaurants. Despite this low ranking, it had improved significantly since 2019 when it was 103rd on the list.
The top airport in the world on the AirHelp list was Tokyo Haneda International Airport in Japan.
The Skytrax Top 100 Airports for 2022 was voted for by air travellers around the world in the 2021/2022 World Airport Survey and it listed Madrid Barajas came at number 16 in the world.
The Spanish capital’s airport had climbed from number 20 in 2021 but was still below some other European airports such as Paris Charles de Gaul at number six, Munich at number seven and Zurich at number nine.
The survey asked users for their opinion on the world’s best airport but also asked for factors such as public transport serving the airport, taxi prices from the airport, Covid-19 protocols such as the use of masks and hand sanitiser, signage in the airport, walking distance to arrivals, service of the staff, cleanliness, wi-fi availability and waiting times for immigration among others.
Barcelona El Prat came in at number 23, which had also improved since 2021 when it was number 39.
Other Spanish airports that made the top 100 in the world were Málaga at number 97, Alicante at number 98 and Palma de Mallorca at 100.
Doha Hamad airport in Qatar was revealed to be the best airport in the world for 2022 according to the Skytrax awards and Tokyo Haneda was in second place.
So although Spain's airports are not as highly rated and multifaceted as those in major travel hubs in Asia and the Middle East, the conclusion from both international rankings is that Madrid's Barajas stands out as one of the best in Europe.
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