This Canadian airport was named the best in North America and one of the best in the world

Another airport in Canada won an award for having the best staff! ✈️

departures drop off lanes at vancouver international airport

Departures drop off at Vancouver International Airport.

Senior Writer

A Canadian airport was named the best airport in North America and one of the best in the world.

Another airport in Canada won an award for the best staff in North America, and others were ranked as top air travel hubs!

Skytrax's 2026 World Airport Awards were announced on March 18, and many Canadian hubs were recognized as some of the best in the world.

The World Airport Awards are considered the "premier international airport and aviation awards," and winners are determined by votes from more than 13 million passengers around the world.

Vancouver International Airport was named the "Best Airport in North America" in the Skytrax World Airport Awards for 2026.

According to the Vancouver Airport Authority, this is a historic achievement because YVR is now the only airport to receive that award 15 times!

Vancouver International Airport also ranked among the top airports globally, coming in 10th place on the list of the world's top 20 airports.

That's an improvement from 2025 and 2024, when it was below the top 10.

These are the best airports in the world for 2026, according to the Skytrax World Airport Awards:

  1. Singapore Changi
  2. Incheon International Airport
  3. Tokyo Haneda Airport
  4. Hong Kong International Airport
  5. Narita International Airport
  6. Paris Charles de Gaulle
  7. Rome Fiumicino Airport
  8. Istanbul Airport
  9. Munich Airport
  10. Vancouver International Airport
  11. Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
  12. Chubu Centrair International Airport
  13. Dubai International Airport
  14. Riyadh King Khalid International Airport
  15. Vienna International Airport
  16. London Heathrow Airport
  17. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
  18. Fukuoka International Airport
  19. Zurich Airport
  20. Bahrain Airport

Also, the Vancouver International Airport won an award for being the best airport with 20 to 30 million passengers.

Even though it dominated, YVR isn't the only Canadian airport recognized by the 2026 World Airport Awards.

Toronto Pearson Airport won the "Best Airport Staff in North America" award. It also ranked 10th on the Best Airports in North America list, while Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport was seventh.

Then, Ottawa International Airport was fifth, and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport was 10th on the Best Regional Airports in North America list.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.

  • Senior Writer

    Lisa Belmonte (she/her) is a Senior Writer with Narcity Media. After graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), she joined the Narcity team. Lisa covers news and notices from across the country from a Canada-wide perspective. Her early coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic earned Narcity its first-ever national journalism award nomination.

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