The 10 Best Airports for Business Travel

Business travelers are, by necessity, some of the most savvy travelers out there. It’s a natural side effect of spending countless hours navigating packed airports and waiting out delays. This also means that the inefficiencies of modern air travel are a little more frustrating than they might be to vacationers; after all, a sluggish security line is more tolerable when you experience it twice in a year rather than twice every week.

It’s no surprise, then, that major airports cater to business travelers as much as reasonably possible. UK-based air travel website Globehunters just released a list of the world’s best airports for business travelers, which takes many of these factors into account. And by extension, they’re great airport options for average travelers for their high-tech and efficient offerings. Three (only three?)  U.S. airports made the top ten on a list that is largely dominated by airports in Asia and in Europe.

Globehunters ranked these airports based on numerous metrics including on-time performance, travel time to the airport via car and mass transit, per-day parking fees, number of airport lounges, and the airport’s breadth of destinations and airlines.

Best Airports for Business Travel

1. Narita International Airport, Japan
2. Los Angeles International Airport, USA
3. Frankfurt Airport, Germany
4. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Netherlands
5. George Bush Houston Intercontinental Airport, USA
6. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, USA
7. Munich Airport, Germany
8. Madrid Barajas Airport, Spain
9. Tokyo Haneda Airport, Japan
10. Dubai International Airport, UAE

Other high ranking domestic airports were San Francisco International at 16, Chicago O’Hare at 17, Miami International at 19, Charlotte Douglas International at 23, and Phoenix Sky Harbor at 24.

Many airports in the upper half of the list are well-known for their ease of use. Put differently, many airports below the top 25 the list (London Heathrow is 30, New York’s JFK is 35) are known for being crowded, chronically off-schedule, or inconveniently far from their home city. And while the focus here is on business travel, the results can be instructive for leisure travelers as well.

Readers, how does this list compare to your travel experiences? If you travel often for business, which airports would top your list?

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