Vancouver International Airport has once again been named Best Airport in North America as part of the Skytrax World Airport Awards. It also has cracked the list of the top airports in the world.
YVR finished 10th in the world in the latest rankings from Skytrax. That’s up three spots from #13 last year, and up a solid seven places from 2024.
Vancouver International has earned the title Best Airport in North America 15 out of the last 17 years and is the only airport ever to receive the award 15 times.
Other Canadian airports didn’t fare as well. Montreal Trudeau (YUL) was at 46, which is up from 51 last year. Toronto Pearson remained in the 55th spot for the second year in a row, but won for world’s best airport staff.
Vancouver International Airport. Jim Byers Photo
No U.S. airport made the top 25 in the world. The highest ranked airport in the States this year was Houston George Bush at number 29. Cincinnati/North Kentucky was ranked 33rd and New York LaGuardia came in at number 38. Houston Hobby was 39th and Seattle-Tacoma 44th.
Singapore Changi, which is a marvel, finished first on the planet for the second year in a row, followed by Seoul Incheon (up from fourth last year) and Tokyo Haneda, which ranked number three for the second year in a row. Istanbul Airport, which has undergone a major renovation, jumped from 14th in 2025 to number eight this year.
For regional airports, Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport finished 10th in North America. Best in the world for regional airports was Centrair Nagoya in Japan.
Skytrax also rated the world’s best airport hotels. The gold medal went to the Crowne Plaza at Changi Airport in Singapore, followed by the Grand Hyatt at San Francisco International and the Fairmont Vancouver Airport, which is one of my fave hotels in Canada.
London Heathrow copped the award for best airport shopping for 2026, while Singapore Changi won for best airport dining.
Skytrax is recognized as the world’s premier international airport and aviation awards, with winners determined by votes cast by more than 13-million passengers around the globe.
The lounge at the Fairmont Hotel at Vancouver Airport.
Here are the winners for top 10 airports in the world. Note that all the top five finishers are in Asia.
- Singapore Changi
- Seoul Incheon
- Tokyo Haneda
- Hong Kong
- Tokyo Narita
- Paris DeGaulle
- Rome Fiumicino
- Istanbul
- Munich
- Vancouver
And here are the Skytrax top 10 airports for North America, with their world rankings in parentheses.
- Vancouver (10)
- Houston Bush (29)
- Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky (33)
- New York La Guardia (38)
- Houston Hobby (39)
- Seattle-Tacoma (44)
- Montreal (46)
- Dallas/Fort Worth (48)
- Los Angeles (49)
- Toronto Pearson (55)
