South Korea's Incheon International comes top of Skytrax's passenger survey.

The survey of 190 airports around the world by consultancy group Skytrax put South Korea's Incheon International ahead of Hong Kong International Airport and Singapore Changi in the top two spots.

Skytrax's chief executive Edward Plaisted said the race for the top three spots was too close to call, with the top three airports almost tying for first place. The final margins between the top three airports were the smallest known for such a large global project, said the company's website.

The annual survey funded entirely by Skytrax evaluates traveller experiences across 39 different categories. Passengers were asked to rank them on aspects such as check-in, arrivals and transfers.

This year's winner, Incheon, clinched top spot in several categories, including best international transit airport, best terminal cleanliness and best security processing. Plaisted, congratulating the airport, said: "It is very clear from the 2009 survey results that Incheon International is setting the current global quality benchmark."

Also clinching positions in the top 10 were Zurich in fourth, Munich in fifth, Amsterdam in eighth and Auckland, New Zealand, in 10th.

Airports in the Asia-Pacific finished strongly in the survey, with Kansai in Osaka, Japan, in sixth, Kuala Lumpur's airport in seventh, and Japan's Centrair Nagoya, in the ninth spots. - The Straits Times

How airports fared in Skytrax survey

1. Incheon, South Korea (3)

2. Hong Kong (1)

3. Changi, Singapore (2)

4. Zurich, Switzerland (8)

5. Munich, Germany (4)

6. Kansai, Japan (6)

7. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (7)

8. Amsterdam, The Netherlands (11)

9. Centrair Nagoya, Japan (12)

10. Auckland New Zealand (20)

(Bracket denotes last year's ranking )