Melbourne Airport has again been named the best airport in Australia and the Pacific, coming in just outside the world’s top 20.

Singapore’s Changi took out the top spot in the Skytrax World Airport Awards, which were announced in London late on Wednesday, for an astonishing 14th year.

The annual awards are voted by customers in the world’s largest annual airport customer satisfaction survey. They have run since 1999 and assess customer service and facilities at more than 575 airports.

Asian airports featured prominently in the top spots, with South Korea’s Incheon International Airport coming in at runner-up, followed by Tokyo International Airport (Haneda), Hong Kong International Airport and Narita International Airport (also Tokyo).

Doha’s Hamad airport, which took out the title in 2024 and was runner-up in 2025, has taken itself out of contention for all award programs this year amid the ongoing war in the Middle East.

“The safety and wellbeing of our passengers, our staff, and their families is, and remains, our absolute priority. We thank the aviation community for its understanding,” the airport in the Qatari capital said in a statement this week.

Melbourne came in 21st overall, taking the Australia and Pacific title for the fourth year in a row. While that was down from its 16th overall spot in 2025, the Victorian airport has taken the local title for six of the past seven years.

The acknowledgement came after a busy summer, with the airport having a record month for international travel in January.

In the past six months the airport has also welcomed more than half a dozen new airlines. Delta Air Lines, Hong Kong Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines have launched flights while Indonesia AirAsia, Maldivian Airlines, Finnair and British Airways have all announced plans for services in the coming year.

“We’re incredibly proud that travellers continue to rate us as the best airport in our region, but we want to be even better,” chief executive Lorie Argus said.

“The people who work at Melbourne Airport are our secret sauce and always strive to put our customers first, but sometimes our infrastructure and border technology let us down.

“We’re processing record international passenger numbers through the same amount of immigration kiosks we had a decade ago while still requiring travellers to fill out a paper arrivals card, which has to change as we edge closer to welcoming the world to Australia for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.”

Melbourne Airport last month unveiled plans for a $4.5 billion international terminal expansion. In September, it will open new pick-up and drop-off zones for terminals one-three.

“The new pick-up and drop-off locations will more than double the room travellers have for hellos and goodbyes and will allow us to start pushing the international terminal footprint out into the current arrivals forecourt,” Argus said.

“Our international terminal expansion will give our passengers significantly more room, at the same time as … an expanded check-in hall and five new aircraft stands.”

Other local airports to feature in the global rankings were Brisbane at 40th (also nabbing the title of cleanest airport in the Australia and Pacific) and Sydney in 52nd. New Zealand’s biggest airport, Auckland, was 54th while Perth was 58th.

Adelaide airport was ranked 72 and picked up titles for best regional airport and best staff in Australia and the Pacific. Gold Coast airport rounded out the local mentions at no.81.