South Africa has plenty to celebrate after Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban all featured among Africa’s top five airports in the latest Skytrax rankings.
Western Cape, South Africa (10 July 2026) – Does good news get old? Does it come with an expiry date? Or is it still worth celebrating, even if we happen to discover it a little later than everyone else?
Scrolling through my newsfeed this week, I spotted a few UK publications with headlines talking about how a “Vast 900-hectare airport in Africa named best on the continent for 11th year in a row“. My first thought was, “Ah, we’ve definitely written about that before”.
So I checked.
We had. In fact, Good Things Guy reported on Cape Town International Airport being named Africa’s best airport… right up until 2023. Somehow, though, we completely missed the announcements for 2024, 2025 and now 2026.
And if we somehow missed it, perhaps you did too.
So let’s fix that.
Cape Town International Airport has once again been crowned Best Airport in Africa at the 2026 Skytrax World Airport Awards, marking an incredible 11th consecutive year at the top of the continent.
The awards are among the most respected in global aviation. Often referred to as the “Oscars of the aviation industry”, the Skytrax World Airport Awards are based entirely on passenger feedback rather than judging panels or commercial submissions. Millions of travellers from around the world took part in the 2025/2026 World Airport Survey, rating everything from check-in and security to cleanliness, shopping, dining, baggage collection and overall customer experience.
In other words, the people who actually use the airports decide the winners.
That makes Cape Town’s continued success even more impressive.
This year, Cape Town International Airport was ranked 74th among the world’s Top 100 airports and was also recognised for having the Best Airport Staff Service in Africa. The airport has built a reputation for being welcoming, efficient and easy to navigate, while consistently delivering the kind of travel experience passengers remember for all the right reasons.
But South Africa had another reason to celebrate too.
O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg secured the 84th spot on the global Top 100 list, meaning only two African airports featured among the world’s best and both were South African.
Looking at the continental rankings, South Africa’s performance becomes even more impressive. The regional Top 5 airports in Africa were:
- Cape Town International Airport
- O.R. Tambo International Airport
- Marrakech Menara Airport
- King Shaka International Airport
- Mohammed V International Airport (Casablanca)
That means South Africa claimed 3 of Africa’s top five airports, with Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban all earning places among the continent’s very best.
Globally, the competition remains fierce. Singapore’s Changi Airport claimed the number one position, followed by Seoul Incheon International Airport in South Korea and Tokyo Haneda Airport in Japan. To see two South African airports standing among the world’s Top 100, while Cape Town continues its remarkable run as Africa’s favourite airport, is something worth celebrating. Airports are often our first impression of a country and our last memory before heading home. They welcome families, reunite loved ones, launch adventures and mark the beginning of business trips, holidays and life-changing moments. Getting that experience right matters more than many people realise.
So yes, we’re a little late to this particular celebration.
But good news doesn’t lose its shine because a few months have passed. Cape Town International Airport has spent more than a decade showing travellers why it deserves to be called Africa’s best and that’s an achievement worth applauding whenever we happen to be reminded of it.
Congratulations to everyone behind the scenes who keeps South Africa’s airports running every day. You’re helping create first impressions that leave millions of travellers with another reason to smile about our beautiful country.
