New Study Unveils The Most Relaxing Airports Around the World

Cramped seating, a lack of dining options, dirty carpets . . . airports aren’t always the most enjoyable places to spend your time. For many travelers, long layovers or delays can turn into hours of boredom and stress.

At Solitaired, we get it. That’s why we’re all about helping you beat the boredom of travel, whether that’s by playing a game of online Solitaire or finding the most relaxing airports to ease the journey.

To uncover the best spots for stress-free travel, we analyzed data from Skytrax, Google Reviews, and multiple travel articles for more than 400 airports globally. We then created a relaxation rating on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the most relaxing airports. Read on to see which locations topped our list.

Key Takeaways

• Incheon International Airport, located in Incheon, South Korea, ranks first as the most relaxing airport around the world.
• Zhanjiang Airport, located in Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China, ranks first for the least relaxing airport around the world.
• Indianapolis International Airport, located in Indiana, ranks first as the most relaxing airport in the U.S.
• Oakland International Airport, located in California, ranks first as the least relaxing airport in the U.S.
• Houston Hobby Airport and Seattle Tacoma Airport rank highest for terminal comfort among all U.S. airports.
• John Wayne Airport ranks first for the lowest average wait time in the U.S.

The Best Global Airports for Relaxing Travel

For this study, we included each airport’s overall rankings and analyzed the locations across 5 categories: walking distance, terminal comfort, terminal facilities, shopping, and dining.

In first place, the most relaxing airport in the world is Incheon International Airport, located in Incheon, South Korea. Among the five categories we evaluated, Incheon International Airport’s highest rating comes in shopping, with 4.7 out of 5 stars. From various options like cosmetics and fashion in Terminal 1 to convenience stores and a bookstore in Terminal 2, there are many choices to keep travelers occupied while waiting for their flight.

Coming in second place is the Singapore Changi Airport, with a relaxation score of 92.90 out of 100. Located in Changi, Singapore, this airport received its highest rating in the terminal facilities category, earning 4.88 out of 5 stars. This category includes access and time allotted for Wi-Fi, quiet and relaxing areas to spend time, leisure facilities, and vending machines. So whether you are using Wi-Fi to work remotely or are using a quiet space to enjoy a relaxing game of FreeCell Solitaire, the Singapore Changi Airport offers a pleasant experience to all travelers.

For third place, we move from Asia to the Middle East with the Bahrain International Airport in Muharraq, Bahrain, receiving a relaxation score of 92.80 out of 100. This location ranks highest in our terminal comfort category with a 4.89 out of 5-star rating. This category includes various factors including congestion around the terminal, decor, condition, air temperature, seat availability, seat type and comfort, and access to charging stations. This makes for the perfect environment to relax before your flight while ensuring your devices are charged ahead of your trip.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Zhanjiang Airport in Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China, received the lowest relaxation score (40.01), making it the least relaxing airport in the world. This is followed by Havana Jose Marti International Airport (45.56) in Havana, Cuba, and Yanji Chaoyangchuan Airport (46.93) in Yanji, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin, China, ranking second and third, respectively, for the least relaxation.

Among the airports analyzed, 29 received a perfect 5-star rating for walking distance. Bahrain International Airport earned the highest score for terminal comfort with 4.89 stars, while Singapore Changi Airport led in terminal facilities with 4.88 stars. For shopping and dining, Hong Kong International Airport claimed the top spots with ratings of 4.80 and 4.64, respectively.

The Most and Least Relaxing Airports in the U.S.

After analyzing airports around the world, we wanted to zoom in on the U.S. to gain insight into which locations reign supreme across the country. For this ranking, we added one additional category, wait times. For each airport, we collected the average wait time and the average maximum wait time since January 2024. This was then added to the relaxation score along with the original 5 categories.

Coming in first place with a score of 98.94 out of 100 is Indianapolis International Airport in Indiana. When it comes to average wait times, travelers only experienced about a 6-minute delay and at the most about a 14-minute delay at this location. As for the categories, the Indianapolis International Airport’s highest rating is in walking distance, earning 4 out of 5 stars.

Up next is John Wayne Airport in California with a relaxation score of 96.03. This location had the lowest average and maximum wait times over the past year compared to other U.S. airports with about 5.75 minutes and 12.82 minutes on average, respectively.

Coming in third is the Houston Hobby Airport, in Texas, which claimed the top spot for each ranking outside of wait times. This location earned a perfect 5-star rating for walking distance, 4.38 stars for terminal comfort, 4.75 stars for terminal facilities, 4.38 stars for shopping, and 4.42 stars for dining. So if you find yourself planning a trip for 2025, perhaps this is an airport you should consider visiting.

Further Your Travel Relaxation with Solitaired

Traveling can be stressful. Even when booking travel through the most relaxing airports, you can still find yourself worrying about connecting flights, delays, and more. At Solitaired, we understand how important it is to maintain peace of mind, especially when traveling.

That’s why we offer a variety of online games that you can play anywhere, any time. So even if you are stuck sitting in uncomfortable, cramped airport chairs, there are endless gaming options from Spider Solitaire and Spades to Mahjong Solitaire and Golf Solitaire, to help you relax.

Methodology

In this study, we set out to determine which airports around the world offer travelers the most relaxing experience. To do this, we first analyzed Skytrax rankings for more than 400 airports. Using the 5-star ratings provided, we collected rankings for factors among 5 categories: walking distance, terminal comfort, terminal facilities, shopping, and dining.

To create these category scores, we calculated the average rating among each of the specific topics. For example, for the terminal comfort category we averaged the ratings for the following topics: congestion around the terminal, air temperature, decor and condition, seat availability, seat types and comfort, access to power/charging points, cleanliness of seats, cleanliness of washrooms, and cleanliness of public areas. We then followed these steps for each of the five categories.

In addition to the Skytrax ratings, we also included the overall rating for each airport on Google Reviews. We then collected multiple articles regarding luxury lounges in airports around the world, and awarded a 5-star rating to any airport mentioned among the reports. Finally, we calculated the average across all the categories to find the overall star rating. We then adjusted that score on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the most relaxing airports.

Along with the international ranking of airports, we decided to zoom in on U.S. airports to determine the most relaxing within the country. In addition to the categories used in our global ranking, we also collected average and maximum wait times since January 2024 for each airport. We then created a 5-point scale, similar to those used in the other categories, and awarded points based on the average length of wait times at each airport, with 5 representing the shortest average time. This score was then factored into the overall score for U.S. airports, and adjusted on the same 0 to 100 scale.