The 10 most innovative airports in the world

For the most part, the only reason anyone goes to an airport is to leave as quickly as possible. 

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But it doesn't have to be this way.

The most innovative airports understand that flying can be a profoundly stressful experience, so they use technology, architecture, psychology, and design to minimize that burden.

That can mean building an indoor rainforest in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; a wave pool in Munich, Germany; or a rooftop dog park in Queens, New York.

munich airport
Michael Dalder/Reuters

The sky's the limit.

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JFK International Airport. New York, New York.

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The new rooftop park at Terminal 5.
Paul Rivera

Earlier this summer, architecture firm Gensler — the company behind many of the most innovative airports on our list — finished construction on a post-security rooftop park at JFK's JetBlue terminal. While the lush green gives stressed-out humans a way to decompress between flights, it also solves a logistical problem for pets.

Prior to the construction of the park, passengers traveling with pets would have to go back through security so their animals could go to the bathroom. Now they can go on the roof.

JetBlue also recently opened a farm that will grow 2,000 different types of herbs, plants, and produce. The crops will help feed diners in the airport's restaurants and go toward local food pantries.

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Changi Airport. Airport Blvd, Singapore.

changi airport
Todd Wade/Flickr

Like most of Singapore, the city-state's Changi Airport, designed by SAA, is fully equipped to act as a giant sponge.

Instead of letting rainwater trickle into storm drains, where it's later deposited in rivers and oceans, the airport catches its rainwater for short-term recycling and longer-term storage. Roofs are outfitted with pipes that move the water to underground tanks.

Changi Airport, voted the best airport in the world in 2015, is also a layover paradise. The airport features free video games, places to shower, film screenings, a nap facility, and a swimming pool. It has a butterfly garden and offers passengers with longer layovers free tours of Singapore.

Outside, the airport maintains a stunning cactus garden and multiple green spaces for much-needed nature therapy between flights.

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Incheon International Airport. Seoul, South Korea.

incheon airport
Richard, enjoy my life!/Flickr

With its myriad shops, restaurants, and attractions, Incheon Airport functions more like a tiny city than your ordinary airport. It was voted the second-best airport in 2015, just behind Singapore's Changi Airport.

Unlike a lot of airports with local travelers, Incheon Airport is "very lightly used by the residents in Seoul," says Ty Osbaugh, principal and architect at Gensler (the architecture firm behind the airport).

That's because people tend to use the airport more as a connection before flying somewhere else. As a result, they often have lots of unplanned time.

It's home to (big breath) free showers, medical services, a post office, dry cleaning service, salons, two movie theaters, golf course, ice rink, casino, culture museum, and 90 duty-free shops.

As Osbaugh explains, the effect is that transfers are no longer separate from the trip. If all goes according to Gensler's plan, he says, the airport "starts to become a memorable part of your journey."

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Helsinki Airport. Vantaa, Finland.

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Finavia

In early November, Helsinki Airport, designed by Dag Englund and Vera Rosendahl, hosted the first airport hackathon in the world. According to Finavia, over 100 developers gathered for the 48-hour Aero Hack event. 

"The idea of the hackathon was to create revolutionary ideas and digital solutions that will change the travel industry and make traveling an even more enjoyable experience," Finavia, Finland's main airline, tells Tech Insider.

The winning team, Codercoded, developed an in-flight app to help travelers cut anxiety levels while flying.

Offering the shortest route between Europe and Asia, Helsinki Airport has yoga classes, saunas, massages, free WiFi, wireless charging stations, a free art gallery, and Europe's first sleeping pods.

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San Francisco International Airport. San Francisco, California.

SFO_T2_Recompose
Bruce Damonte

SFO's Terminal 2 is a favorite among travelers  foodies in particular. Every dining option in the terminal comes from local sources in the Bay Area, and the tableware is all compostable.

Another Gensler terminal, Osbaugh says the project is "wildly successful" because it changes people's expectations of what an airport terminal can be. Along with the local food selection, which SFO basically pioneered, T2 has a yoga room and art gallery. 

When travelers enter T2, they're struck by the hanging art installations, sculptures, mosaics, and collection of paintings.

For larger airports, like those in China, these kind of amenities might seem quaint. But in the US they are miles ahead of the average.

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Munich Airport. Munich, Germany.

munich airport
Michael Dalder/Reuters

Munich Airport is constantly transforming.

In the middle of the sprawling structure, designed by Helmut Jahn, there is a yawning roofed atrium, known as the Munich Airport Center. Normally an ordinary plaza, the atrium transforms depending on the season. Passengers can surf in the summer, drink beer in October, and Christmas shop in December.

Munich Airport also offers a year-round cycle of events. The current attractions include weekend family buffets, art exhibitions, and a flight simulator.

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Carrasco International Airport. Montevideo, Uruguay.

Carrasco uruguay airport
Rafael Viñoly Architects

Uruguay's Carrasco International Airport, designed by the Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly, is a stunning mixture of architectural beauty and eco-friendliness.

While relatively small, the airport's carbon footprint might be even smaller. By 2016, Carrasco will be home to nearly 10 acres of solar panel arrays that, together with wind turbines, will produce enough energy to power the airport in full.

This even includes the electric buses running between the gates and the airplanes. 

 

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Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Selangor, Malaysia.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport
Flickr/eGuide Travel

Malaysia's largest airport is innovative for its modular architecture, natural feel, and artistic design. 

The roof is made of curved pieces that can be removed and adjusted when the airport needs to expand. But it's probably the dense rainforest that sits squarely in the middle of the airport, rising several stories high, that travelers will notice first. The airport itself is surrounded by nearly 25,000 acres of forest.

In an email to Tech Insider, architecture firm Kisho Kurokawa says the idea was to create "an airport in the forest; a forest in the airport." People are relaxed in nature and typically stressed in airports. It only made sense to blend the two — to create a "symbiosis," as the firm says.

Many of the ornate design aesthetics were drawn from Islamic mosques and traditional Malaysian culture, including those of the roof, ceiling, and facade.

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Dubai International Airport. Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

dubai airport
Jumanah El-Heloueh/Reuters

Few airports can be considered wonders of design, but Dubai International makes the cut.

Conceived by architecture firm Dar Al-Handasah, the airport features a prayer room, children's play area, health center, gym, and swimming pool.

But it's the arching white walls, vaulted ceilings, and immaculate mall-like interior that instills passengers with a sense of awe. When travelers walk through the terminal, they see giant palm trees flanking a sand-colored walkway, as if to recreate the tropical outdoors.

The entire structure is enclosed in an aqua-colored glass tube that almost seems to shimmer at night.

 

 

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Heathrow Airport. London, England.

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Curt Smith/Flickr

At most airports, the highlight of the check-in process is either waiting in a long line for your respective airline or, if you're lucky, using a common-use system where you just drop your bags and go.

In Heathrow Airport's Terminal 2, designed by Luis Vidal, travelers can use a "truly common check-in," as Neil Clark, Heathrow's CIO, has called it. Regardless of which of the 26 airlines in Terminal 2 they're flying, travelers can leave their bags with any agent they choose. That means a single attendant can service several airlines at once.

The result is that one of the busiest international airports in the world efficiently moves its 79 million annual passengers through the terminal.

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