Hanoi airport ranks among world’s 100 best for fifth consecutive year

The airport in Hanoi has slipped one place from last year to 87th in the annual ranking released Tuesday by Skytrax, a UK-based consultancy that runs a yearly airline and airport review based on votes by international air travelers.

Noi Bai airport lagged far behind regional peers like Singapore’s Changi (1st), Jakarta’s Soekarno–Hatta (35th), Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi (48th) and Kuala Lumpur (63th).

Changi Airport in Singapore was voted the World’s Best Airport for the eighth consecutive year. The rest of the top 10 are dominated by five of Asia's largest international airports: Seoul Incheon, Tokyo Haneda, Hong Kong, Japan's Chubu Centrair Nagoya and Tokyo Narita.

Noi Bai, Vietnam’s second busiest airport after Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City, has a capacity of 25 million passengers per year with two terminals and two runways. 29.2 million passengers used the airport last year, up 13 percent from a year ago.

The airport, 35 km (22 miles) north of Hanoi's center, has improved tremendously in recent years after being considered one of the worst in Asia during 2014 by survey site The Guide to Sleeping in Airports.

Passengers are now provided with a series of conveniences like free fresh water, free wifi, free shuttle bus for connecting guests, free transport for disabled passengers and free mobile phone charging outlets.

Vietnam is planning a $5.5 billion expansion of Noi Bai Airport to double its capacity to 50 million passengers per year by 2030. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved a third terminal and runway here after 2020.

The country's aviation market has ranked among the world’s 10 fastest-growing on the back of its recent tourism boom, according to the Airport Council International (ACI), a non-profit organization representing the world’s airports.

Airports across Vietnam served near 116 million passengers last year, up 12 percent from 2018. The country currently has 22 civilian airports, including 10 international ones. Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai are the country’s two largest airports.