Qatar's Hamad International airport flying high as travelers name it 'best in the world'

Qatar's Hamad International airport has been named best in the world by AirHelp, who also ranked the country's national carrier Qatar Airways best airline in the world this year.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

10 May, 2019

The Doha airport features several works of art [AFP]

Qatar's Hamad International airport has been named the best airport in the world, according to AirHelp, a tech company that assists passengers with delays and cancellations.

The Doha-based airport beat out Tokyo's Haneda International Airport in second place and Greece's Athens International Airport in third place to claim the top spot.

AirHelp used a combination of flight data and customer input to rank 133 airports worldwide, with timeliness (60 percent) carrying more weight than quality of service (20 percent) and availability of food and shops (20 percent).

But Hamad International Airport managed to grab the top spot despite scoring seventh for timeliness. It is also famed for its huge Lamp Bear monument, which takes centre stage in the terminal, designed by Swiss artist Urs Fisher.

Opened in 2014, the airport hosts more than 30 million travelers a year.

No other airport in the Middle East made it in to the top 25.

Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport was rated 27th best in the world, while the UAE's Abu Dhabi International airport placed 37th and Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh King Khalid airport was ranked 43rd.

Qatar's national carrier Qatar Airways was also named best airline in the world by AirHelp this year.