Ranked: The world’s 20 best airports (spoiler – Heathrow has swooped lower)
Heathrow airport has been named the world's top airport for shopping by Skytrax’s World Airport Awards for the fifth year in a row – but has fallen in the overall ranking.
Heathrow fell from eighth place in 2016 to ninth in this year's overall ranking, although it was also voted the best airport in Western Europe and ranked eighth for best dining.
Heathrow opened new personal shopping lounges in terminals two and five last year, as well as a Harry Potter shop and a blow dry bar. More than 400 luxury brands are sold at the airport, while two restaurants are run by Michelin-star chefs, including Gordon Ramsay.
The awards, based on international passenger surveys, ranked Singapore Changi Airport as the best airport in the world for the fifth consecutive year. Changi includes a butterfly garden, a rooftop swimming pool and two 24-hour cinemas showing the latest blockbusters free of charge to passengers.
The world's 20 best airports
| Ranking | Airport | 2016 ranking |
| 1 | Singapore Changi | 1 |
| 2 | Tokyo Intl Haneda | 4 |
| 3 | Incheon Intl Airport | 2 |
| 4 | Munich Airport | 3 |
| 5 | Hong Kong Intl Airport | 5 |
| 6 | Hamad Intl Airport | 10 |
| 7 | Centrair Nagoya | 6 |
| 8 | Zurich Airport | 7 |
| 9 | Heathrow Airport | 8 |
| 10 | Frankfurt Airport | 12 |
| 11 | Amsterdam Schiphol | 13 |
| 12 | Kansai Intl Airport | 9 |
| 13 | Vancouver Airport | 14 |
| 14 | Narita Airport | 11 |
| 15 | Copenhagen Airport | 18 |
| 16 | Brisbane Airport | 17 |
| 17 | Helsinki Airport | 15 |
| 18 | Shanghai Hongqiao | 34 |
| 19 | Cape Town Airport | 22 |
| 20 | Dubai Airport | 26 |
Heathrow was awarded the Airport Service Quality Award by the Airports Council International this month.
A decade earlier, Heathrow was rated “excellent” or “very good” by only 41 per cent of passengers, but has since invested more than £11bn to renovations and other improvements.
These awards round out a flying start to the beginning of the year; Heathrow experienced its best February performance to date last month.