It was this time of the year again when the World’s Best Airports are named at the annual Skytrax World Airport Awards. Last Year Hong Kong won the trophy, this year it was South Korea’s Incheon International Airport (IATA: ICN). It’s boring as the overall winner always seems to be either Hong Kong (HKG), Singapore (SIN) or, well, Incheon. At least this was true over the past years.

In its press release, Skytrax notes that the domination of the highest global airport rankings by airports across Asia is notable, with 6 of the top 10 positions going to Asian airports. “Aside from the inherent benefit that many of these airports have in the most modern infrastructure and terminal facilities, the real differentiator that comes across in customer feedback is that the service culture across these Asian airports is very often at a much higher quality level, and most importantly delivers in a consistent manner,” added Plaisted, Chairman of SKYTRAX.

While the overall winner wasn’t a surprise at all, some winners in the other categories were a bit more interesting. Here’s the full list:

• WORLD’S BEST AIRPORT: Incheon International Airport
• WORLD’S MOST IMPROVED AIRPORT: Delhi International Airport
• WORLD’S BEST AIRPORT TERMINAL: Terminal 5, London Heathrow Airpor
• WORLD’S BEST LOW-COST AIRPORT: London Stansted Airport
• WORLD’S BEST PREMIUM SERVICE AIRPORT: Doha – Qatar Airways Premium Terminal
• WORLD’S BEST AIRPORT HOTEL: Regal Airport Hotel, Hong Kong
• BEST AIRPORT SHOPPING: London Heathrow Airport
• BEST AIRPORT SECURITY PROCESSING: Narita International Airport
• BEST AIRPORT IMMIGRATION SERVICE: Tokyo International Airport Haneda
• BEST INTERNATIONAL TRANSIT AIRPORT: Singapore Changi Airport
• BEST AIRPORT TERMINAL CLEANLINESS: Hong Kong International Airport
• BEST AIRPORT DINING EXPERIENCE: Hong Kong International Airport
• BEST AIRPORT FOR BAGGAGE DELIVERY: Beijing Capital International Airport
• BEST AIRPORT FOR LEISURE AMENITIES: Singapore Changi Airport
• BEST AIRPORT – AFRICA: Cape Town International Airport
• BEST AIRPORT – ASIA: Incheon International Airport
• BEST AIRPORT – AUSTRALIA/PACIFIC: Auckland International Airport
• BEST AIRPORT – CHINA: Beijing Capital Intl Airport
• BEST AIRPORT – EUROPE: Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
• BEST AIRPORT – MIDDLE EAST: Abu Dhabi International Airport
• BEST AIRPORT – INDIA: Delhi International Airport
• BEST AIRPORT – NORTH AMERICA: Vancouver International Airport
• BEST AIRPORT – CENTRAL AMERICA: Tocumen Panama Airport
• BEST AIRPORT – NORTHERN EUROPE: Copenhagen Airport
• BEST AIRPORT – SOUTH AMERICA: Jorge Chávez International Airport
• BEST AIRPORT – SOUTHERN EUROPE: Barcelona Airport
• BEST AIRPORT – CENTRAL EUROPE: Munich Airport
• BEST AIRPORT – EASTERN EUROPE: Moscow Domodedovo Airport
• BEST AIRPORT – WESTERN EUROPE: Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

The 2012 World Airport Awards were announced during the ceremony held at Passenger Terminal EXPO in Vienna, Austria on 19th April 2012. Further details can be found on Skytrax’ website which is found here.

[Photo from Wikipedia – some rights reserved]