The Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) has officially been crowned the best airport in the world at the Global Travel Awards 2026, but there is a problem with that achievement. It’s not the best airport in the world.
According to Global Travel Awards, the result comes from a vote of 2.5 million travellers from more than 150 countries, so they all couldn’t be wrong – right?
I travel more than 300 days year and spend most of my life living (and writing) in airports and I know fewer airports as well as I do the Hong Kong International Airport. If the airport is to be graded on its consistency for great security processing, immigration lines, and modern architecture, then yes, Hong Kong should have among the highest marks in the world. However, if you rate it according to the experience of those who travel internationally, then no! Hong Kong is not the best airport in the world – not even close!
Why? The Global travel awards do something extremely sneaky with their reviews. Hong Kong is awarded for a notably smoother experience because of tech upgrades in facial recognition technology, which now powers fully automated security gates, immigration channels, and boarding gates.
But that doesn’t matter to international travelers, because that technology for “fully automated security gates” upon arrival are for Hong Kong residence and citizens – not visitors. Unlike Dubai, EU, or Japan, there are no special automated ‘smart’ lanes for other nationalities when tourists arrive in the country.
And for the automation for “security gates” prior to boarding, the argument can and should be made that the gates actually cost more time. The old system worked faster. The new system is not easy to figure out for new users and causes delays when the machines do not recognize passports, which is a frequent problem. Those automated 2-step gates after check in? They are not security. They are an added extra step before security, which is before immigration.
The other major problem that is conveniently skipped over here is eating. If you love Cantonese food, then yes, the Hong Kong airport is the best airport in the world. Unfortunately, if you are an independent business traveler from the Middle East, Europe, Africa or South America – good luck on finding a restaurant that caters to your tastes.
You will not find a Lebanese restaurant, kebab shop, or fish and chips joint in the entire place. Though there is a Gordon Ramsey’s Restaurant right after security, it is more like a Gucci store than an actual place to eat, with a menu that is thin and highly priced rather than functional and ‘fish and chips’ friendly.
Yes, there is a McDonald’s, but good luck finding it. Hong Kong purposefully hides it in the basement of the airport. Yes – it is literally in the basement of the airport. It is one of the hardest places to find, so if you are a family with small children, be prepared to be walking in circles for hours looking for it rather than strolling comfortably to relax at your gate.
The other thing missing at the Hong Kong airport are those small shops with simple snacks, soups, salads, wraps and sandwiches for those long flights ahead.
This is just inside the airport. Airports should be graded on a host of other things too, like access to hotels without buses, proximity to rental cars, and availability of taxis. Most Hong Kong Airport taxies still ONLY take cash! Yes, I know, Hong Kong passed a law that all taxis must take credit cards, but that law is still not being followed. I just took a Hong Kong taxi from the airport last week and guess what? It didn’t take credit card – only cash.
Yes, there are so many things about the Hong Kong Airport that are excellent, but are simply not up to par with other airports more worthy of the ‘Best Airport in the World’ award like Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Vancouver, or Zurich. These are all world class airports with amazing restaurants, shopping, architecture, accessibility, and speedy security that easily beat Hong Kong.
But what do I know? I am only a traveling missionary.
I love it! This post makes me want to plan a missions trip just to enjoy one of the four great airports you recommend.