Where are the world’s most luxurious airports?

Going to the airport can be an exciting part of going on holiday. Once you’re through security it seems as though all time stops while you sample designer perfumes, have a breakfast mimosa and try on new sunglasses – until you must race to your gate!

However, some airports are certainly better than others when it comes to the level of comfort. With delays, and layovers that can feel like they go on forever, comfort is the top priority – particularly if you’re an over 70’s traveller or have pre-existing medical conditions and hoping to get to your destination feeling relaxed and ready to enjoy your holiday. With all of this in mind, we decided to investigate which of the world’s airports offer the most luxurious experience, giving travellers the utmost comfort before they take to the skies.

We analysed over 1,800 airports before whittling them down to a shortlist of 69, based on how many had a significant selection of passenger lounges available (minimum 10). Each airport was then scored on several factors, from how many designer shops it has, to how many 4- and 5-star hotels are located nearby. Each airport was also given a score based on how many lounges are available to passengers, and whether you can find a champagne bar or caviar house to rest at while waiting to board.

Dubai International Airport reigns supreme as the world’s most luxurious.

The world’s most luxurious airport, according to our rankings, is in the United Arab Emirates. Dubai airport, which sees 90 million passengers transit through it per year, lands in first place as the go-to airport for anyone seeking a luxurious start to their layover.

Following closely behind is the UK’s very own Heathrow Airport, located in London, while Doha International Airport in Qatar completes the top three.

The rest of the top 20 consists of a variety of other airports located all over the globe, ranging from international hotspots for travellers like Paris and Germany, all the way to Thailand, the USA and Japan.

The 20 airports that offer the best luxury experience 

Dubai International Airport – Luxury score of 83/100

Dubai as a destination is well known across the world for luxury and wealth, so it’s not too surprising that the airport ranks as the most luxurious on the globe. The airport is the fastest-growing aviation hub in the world, and it even has its own 5-star hotel located inside the airport itself. With zen gardens, an outdoor swimming pool, a gym, cinemas and a bounty of restaurants – this is one airport that will certainly leave you feeling refreshed ahead of jumping on your flight. The factor that clinched the win for Dubai Airport is the number of four- and five-star hotels within a three-mile radius of the airport, with over 70 luxury hotels for travellers to choose from.

London Heathrow Airport – Luxury score of 82/100

London has four different airports but Heathrow, which is often recognised as the busiest airport in Europe, just missed out on being crowned the world’s most luxurious by one small point. With an impressive ‘luxury’ score of 82 out of 100, Heathrow scored a bounty of points for having both one of the largest numbers of lounges to choose from, while also having the majority of the world’s most luxury shopping brands available for passengers to browse while they wait to board.

Doha International Airport – Luxury score of 73/100

Qatar airport is home to the world’s third most luxurious airport, and believe it or not, the airport alone is about a third of the size of Doha, the city it’s located in. This beautiful airport has a roof shaped like a wave, while the interior is designed with an aquatic theme. Water features run throughout, and all represent the gentle waves of the Arabian gulf. Doha’s airport also scored highly for the number of four- and five-star hotels within its vicinity, as well as having many luxury brands like Hermès and Montblanc for shopping-hungry passengers.

Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport – Luxury score of 66/100

Handling 70 million passengers each year, Paris’ main airport is the second busiest in Europe, after Heathrow. One of the most renowned airports worldwide, U2 even filmed their music video for “Beautiful Day” at this globally renowned airport. The airport scored highly on the sheer number of luxury brands available for perusal, from Louis Vuitton to Yves Saint Laurent and Bvlgari, but also plays host to its own onsite hotel, and fantastic transport links into the European city of love.

Sydney International Airport – Luxury score of 61/100

Sitting down under, is the first Oceanic airport in the rankings. Sydney’s international airport completes the top five most luxurious worldwide airports, with top marks for luxury brands available across its terminals, the likes of which include Cartier, Rolex and Armani. This luxury airport is the world’s oldest continually operating commercial international airport and impresses passengers with a runway that extends into Botany Bay – with runway lights positioned on the water making landings here incredibly picturesque.

If all this talk about airports has whet your appetite for an adventure, remember make sure you’re covered for your trip with over 70s Travel Insurance before you set off, so you’re protected from any unexpected events or emergencies that might occur while you’re away.

Methodology:

A list of every airport in the world was collated, before using Loungebuddy to find out how many lounges each airport has available to passengers.

The list was then streamlined to only include airports that offered at least 10 lounges. A variety of data points were subsequently collected for these airports.

Due to discrepancies in airport’s showcasing the full lists of shops available on their websites, several ways of analysing the amount of designer stores were used. We created a list of 25 of the most found luxury brands in airports and assessed how many of these 25 could be found in each airport using a variety of sources, including articles, press releases, each airport’s official website and data from InMapz, which uses indoor mapping technology to create digital twins of buildings like airports.

The number of 4-star and 5-star hotels in the vicinity of the airport was calculated by using Google’s Hotel Search and eliminating any hotels further than 3 miles away from the airport.

Desk research, InMapz and each airport’s official website was used to discover whether the airport offered champagne bars or caviar houses.

All these data points were then given scores using a weighted formula, to provide an overall ‘luxury’ score out of 100.

All data correct as of February 2024.