The world's 20 best airports

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad

For the second time in a row, Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) has been rated the world's number one airport in the category of airports handling 5 to 15 million passengers by the Airport Council International.

Commercial flight operations began in 2008. It is the second public-private partnership venture in India. During Apr-Nov 2010, it was the sixth busiest airport in the country in terms of international and overall passenger traffic.

Spread across an area of 5,400 acres, the airport is designed by the London architecture firm Arup.

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Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport is the world's second best airport in the '15-25 million passengers' category.

The airport, with its five operating terminals, spread over an operational area of 1,450 acres, is South Asia's largest aviation hub.

It was built at a whopping cost of Rs 8,966 crore (Rs 89.66 billion). In February 2006, Mumbai International Airport Ltd, a consortium of GVK Industries, Airports Company South Africa and Bidvest joined together to modernise the Mumbai airport.

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The New Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport is ranked fourth in the 25-40 million passengers' category. It is the busiest airport in India in daily flight traffic and second busiest in terms of passenger traffic in India.

With the new Terminal 3, the airport has become one of South Asia's largest and most important aviation hubs, with a current capacity of handling more than 46 million passengers and aimed at handling more than 100 million passengers by 2030.

Terminal 3, is the world's eighth largest passenger terminal. It occupies an area of 5.4 million sq ft and has a capacity to handle 34 million passengers annually.

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Incheon International Airport was named the world's best airport, overall, for the sixth straight year. Incheon is one of the busiest airports in the world, connecting 172 destinations worldwide.

More than 33.48 million people traveled through this airport last year. The airport received the 5-star ranking by Skytrax.

It takes 16 minutes for a traveler to go through the departure procedure and 12 minutes for arrival. The airport has a golf course, spa, private sleeping rooms, a casino, indoor gardens and a museum of Korean culture.

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The world's second best airport, overall, handled 42,038,777 passengers in 2010.

It was the the 18th busiest airport in the world and the fifth busiest in Asia by passenger traffic in 2010. The airport breached the 40 million mark for the first time in its history on 15 December 2010.

With over 40,000 square meters of commercial space, Changi Airport also has Singapore's largest shopping location.

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The Hong Kong International Airport ranked third in the world, has won seven Skytrax World Airport Awards for customer satisfaction.

About 90 airlines operate flights to around 150 destinations worldwide.

HKIA also operates one of the world's largest passenger terminal buildings. From this airport, 90 airlines fly to over 150 cities across the globe.

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The fourth best airport in the world is Beijing. It is the second busiest airport in Asia in terms of passenger traffic.

The airport scores high on cleanliness, speedy security/immigration, clarity of signs, luggage handling, etc. It was the first time that Beijing Capital made to the top contenders list.

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Shanghai Pudong International Airport is a major hub for cargo traffic in the world. With 2,539,284 metric tonnes handled in 2009, the airport is the third busiest airport in the world in terms of freight traffic.

A total of 31.9 million passengers passed through the airport in 2009, making the airport the third busiest in mainland China.

It is ranked as the world's fifth best airport, overall.

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It is the world's No.1 airport in the world in the 2-5 million passengers' category.

Ottawa is Canada's 6th busiest airport by airline passenger traffic and by aircraft movements, with 4,473,894 passengers and 172,053 aircraft movements in 2010.

Ottawa International Airport is one of eight Canadian airports that have United States border pre-clearance facilities.

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It is the second best airport in the world in the 2-5 million passengers' category. The airport, owned by Transport Canada is a part of the National Airports System.

It is the 7th busiest airport in Canada by passenger traffic. In 2010, the airport handled a total of 3,508,153 passengers and 87,015 aircraft movements.

Nagoya is the second best airport in the world in the 5-15 million passengers' category.

It is Japan's third most important international airport after Tokyo's Narita Airport and Osaka's Kansai Airport. It is also known as Chubu Airport.

Constructed on a man made island in the Bay of Ise, the Central Japan Airport was opened in February 2005.

Vancouver International Airport's the world's third best airport in the 15-25 million passengers' category.

In 2010 it was the second busiest airport in Canada by aircraft movements and passengers (16.8 million).

The airport has won Skytrax Best North American Airport award in 2010.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport is one of Southeast Asia's largest airports. It is also Malaysia's main international airport. It is situated in the Sepang district.

KLIA was built at a cost of $3.5 billion. Kuala Lumpur International Airport is capable of handling 35 million passengers.

Gimpo International Airport in Korea is the No.1 airport in the 15-25 million passengers' category.

It was the main international airport for Seoul and South Korea before it was replaced by Incheon International Airport in 2001. It is now the second largest airport in Korea.

Cape Town International Airport won the 'Best Improvement Award' by region. It is the second busiest airport in South Africa and third busiest in Africa.

The airport was opened in 1954 to replace Cape Town's previous airport in the suburb of Wingfield.

In 2009, Cape Town International Airport received the Skytrax award for the best airport in Africa.

Malta International Airport, has been rated as the best airport in Europe.

The airport serves as the main hub for Air Malta.

Mexico's second busiest airport in Cancun is ranked as the best airport in Latin America & Caribbean. In 2010 Cancun airport handled 12,439,266 passengers.

The airport has two runways that are 1,500 metres apart, which allows them to be used simultaneously, and three commercial terminals.

Dubai International Airport, a major aviation hub is ranked as the best airport in the Middle East.

One of the busiest airports, there are over 6,000 weekly flights operated by 130 airlines to over 220 destinations.

In 2010, the airport handled a record 47.2 million in passenger traffic, making it the 13th busiest airport in the world.

Indianapolis International Airport is the largest in Indiana and rated as the best airport in North America.

The airport is the eighth largest cargo centre in the US, the 21st busiest airport in the world by cargo traffic. More than 2.2 billion pounds of cargo were handled at IND in 2010.

In terms of commercial traffic the airport averages 140 daily flights to 34 destinations.

George Airport is the best airport in the fewer than 2 million passengers' category.

This airport built in 1977 is a replica of the Keetmanshoop, Namibia airport. It has won awards for efficient operation for two consecutive years.