South Africa’s Cape Town International Airport is the best airport in Africa, according to the latest Skytrax World Airport Awards. The airport also scooped the top prize for being the continent’s cleanest and having the best staff.
South Africa scored big in the continental awards, having five airports ranked in the top ten best airports in Africa. Cape Town International Airport” was awarded first place in the category for Best Airport in Africa for the sixth consecutive year, while King Shaka International Airport was ranked second best airport in Africa followed by O.R Tambo airport also in South Africa.
Top 10 Best Airports in Africa, 2021
1. Cape Town International Airport (South Africa)
Cape Town International Airport is the primary international airport serving the city of Cape Town, and is the second-busiest airport in South Africa and third-busiest in Africa.
For the sixth year in a row, Cape Town International has been named Africa’s best airport. It also scooped the top prize for being the continent’s cleanest and having the best staff.
2. King Shaka International Airport (South Africa)
King Shaka International Airport, abbreviated KSIA, is the primary international airport serving Durban, South Africa. It’s Located in La Mercy, KwaZulu-Natal, approximately 35 km (22 mi) north of the city centre of Durban.
The airport opened its doors to passengers on 1 May 2010, just over a month before the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The second best airport in Africa was designed by Osmond Lange Architects and Planners and costs about US$900 million.
3. O. R. Tambo International Airport (South Africa)
O. R. Tambo International Airport is an international airport situated in Kempton Park, Gauteng, South Africa. It serves as the primary airport for domestic and international travel to/from South Africa and is the third best airport in Africa. O. R. Tambo is also Africa’s busiest airport, with a capacity to handle up to 28 million passengers annually.
O. R. Tambo International Airport is the only airport in Africa that has non-stop flights to all six inhabited continents.
4. Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport (Mauritius)
Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport is the main international airport in Mauritius. It is located 26 nautical miles (48 km) southeast of the capital city of Port Louis.
The airport which was previously known as the Plaisance Airport, has direct flights to several destinations in Africa, Asia, Europe and is home to the country’s national airline Air Mauritius.
5. Marrakesh Menara Airport (Morocco)
Marrakesh Menara Airport is an international airport serving Marrakesh, the capital city of the Marrakesh-Safi region in Morocco. It is an international facility that receives several European flights as well as flights from Casablanca and some of the Arab world nations. The airport served over 6.3 million passengers in 2019.
Marrakesh Menara Airport is the fifth best airport in Africa and the best airport in North Africa.
6. Mohammed V International Airport (Morocco)
Mohammed V International Airport is an international airport serving Casablanca, Morocco.
The airport serves as a hub for Royal Air Maroc, Royal Air Maroc Express and Air Arabia Maroc. It is named after King Mohammed V of Morocco, who led the country’s successful push for independence from French and Spanish colonial rule.
Mohammed V International Airport is the sixth best airport in Africa, the busiest airport in Morocco and the fourth busiest in Africa.
7. Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (Ethiopia)
Addis Ababa Bole International Airport is an international airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The airport which was formerly known as Haile Selassie I International Airport is the main hub of Ethiopian Airlines, the national airline that serves destinations in Ethiopia, the African continent, as well as nonstop service to Asia, Europe, North America and South America.
8. Kigali International Airport (Rwanda)
Kigali International Airport, formerly known as Kanombe International Airport, is the primary airport serving the capital of Rwanda, Kigali.
9. Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport (South Africa)
Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport is an airport serving Port Elizabeth, a city in the Eastern Cape province in South Africa.
The airport which was formerly known as the Port Elizabeth International Airport is owned and operated by the Airports Company South Africa which also operates nine other airports within South Africa.
The name of the airport was changed from Port Elizabeth International Airport to Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport in February 2021.
10. Bram Fischer International Airport (South Africa)
Bram Fischer International Airport is a primary airport located in Bloemfontein, the capital city of the Free State province of South Africa.
Like many others in South Africa, the airport underwent R46 million’s worth of construction and upgrading of the whole airport in preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Methodology
The awards are the outcome of the views of customers in the largest independent global airport customer satisfaction survey.
The Skytrax Awards are based on more than 14-million airport survey questionnaires that were completed by air travellers of more than 100 nationalities during the survey period.
The survey covered more than 500 airports worldwide. It evaluated traveller experiences across 49 key performance indicators from check-in, arrivals, transfers, shopping, security and immigration, through to departure at the gate.
The survey evaluates traveller experiences across different airport service and product key performance indicators – from check-in, arrivals, transfers, shopping, security and immigration through to departure at the gate.
