Three SA airports slide down Skytrax world rankings - but are still among the world's best

• Three South African airports made the Skytrax top 100 list this year.
• This means they are among the top 20% of airports in the survey.
• However, all the representatives have lost ground from their ranking five years earlier.
• For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.

The Cape Town, OR Tambo and King Shaka international airports have all slid down the Skytrax international ranking in recent years, but remain among the 100 best in the world.

Skytrax, an international air transport rating organisation based in the United Kingdom, released its 2024 ranking list of the 100 best airports in the world this week. The organisation says that it screens over 570 airports using customer satisfaction surveys to produce the list.

Doha's Hamad International Airport took the top spot on the list, overtaking last year's leader, the Singapore Changi Airport.

The three South African airports are the only African representatives to make the list.

While still in the top 20% of global airports based on the list, the South African airports have slipped by more than 30 places in recent years.

The rating fall of OR Tambo has been the most significant, having fallen 47 places between 2020 and 2024.

Here is a breakdown of the ranking changes over the last five years.

Skytrax produces one of several trusted airport rankings that are periodically released, with results varying significantly from the different sources. 

A list produced by Airhelp last year, which combined user surveys and metrics such as an airport on time performance, found that Cape Town was the third-best airport in the world in 2023.

READ | Cape Town airport ranked world's third-best in global study

All three airports won awards at a Skytrax ceremony hosted in Frankfurt recently. Cape Town was given the best airport in Africa award for the ninth consecutive year, and was given the award for having the best staff on the continent. King Shaka was given an award for being the best regional airport and OR Tambo was given an award for having the best airport hotel.

Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) CEO, Mpumi Mpofu, said that the awards mark a moment of immense pride.

"We are successfully navigating a period of substantial growth, surging passenger numbers and the introduction of new airlines. We are grateful for the partnerships and support from all our stakeholders, without whom these accolades would not be possible," said Mpofu.

Last month ACSA announced that R21.7 billion has been allocated to infrastructure development at South African airports over the next five years.

This was touted as the largest airport infrastructure investment since the preparation for the FIFA  World Cup football tournament in 2010.

Among the proposed changes are additional bussing capacity at OR Tambo, more baggage carousels and gates at Cape Town International and the construction of a hotel at King Shaka.