Airport Rankings Based on Sustainability
A number of organizations rank airports based on various factors. Skytrax, often described as the “Oscars of the aviation industry,” is one of the best-known airport ranking systems, although several other major systems are widely used by industry professionals and travelers.
Skytrax evaluates airports using between 500 and 800 quality checkpoints across approximately 30 customer touchpoints. Its evaluation criteria are divided into two main categories: Products and Facilities, which cover tangible assets, and Service and Staff, which focus on the passenger experience.
The main alternatives to Skytrax include:
- Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards
- AirHelp Score
- J.D. Power North America Airport Satisfaction Study
- Cirium and OAG Punctuality Leagues
These ranking systems use different data sources and analytical methodologies and may therefore produce different results. However, none of them focuses primarily on sustainability.
The following programs and methodologies are specifically related to airport sustainability:
- Benchmarkia Airport Ranking — a ranking of Canadian airports based on sustainability and operational performance.
- Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) — the most established global airport carbon-management benchmark. Airports are accredited from Level 1 to Level 5, with Level 5 representing the highest level of carbon-management performance. More than 660 airports participate. However, ACA is an accreditation system rather than a numerical ranking of airports in first, second, or third place, and it primarily measures carbon emissions.
- ACI Green Airports Recognition — an annual program for airports in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions. It recognizes airports within passenger-size categories for specific environmental achievements. The 2026 program focused on climate-change adaptation and recognized 12 airports. It is an awards program rather than a comprehensive global ranking.
- Airport Sustainability Index — Estuaire published a 2025 ranking of the world’s 100 largest airports, based mainly on estimated CO₂ emissions associated with departing flights. It provides a direct numerical ranking, but its scope is relatively narrow because it emphasizes flight-related emissions rather than waste management, water use, noise, biodiversity, social responsibility, and other sustainability factors.
- Academic sustainability indices — researchers have developed broader methodologies, including the Sustainability Ranking of Airports Index and the Airport Sustainability Evaluation Index. These methodologies consider factors such as energy use, emissions, environmental management, biodiversity, operational performance, economic performance, and social responsibility. However, they are generally research studies rather than publicly available rankings that are updated annually.
- Morningstar Sustainalytics — evaluates companies that operate airports. These ratings assess financial ESG risk and the quality of ESG risk management, so they are not the same as measuring an airport’s physical environmental footprint or overall sustainability performance.