Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport took top honors amid record growth

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport was named the best airport for departures in the Asia-Pacific region among hubs handling more than 40 million passengers, and earned the title for the sixth consecutive year in the Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Service Quality (ASQ) awards. The 2025 awards are based on passenger satisfaction surveys and place Baiyun among the world’s best-performing airports in terms of customer experience.

ACI’s ASQ Customer Experience Awards leverage real-time feedback from travelers and benchmark airports on factors ranging from check-in and security to cleanliness, retail and overall ambiance. Baiyun ranked first out of 367 airports surveyed and was one of nine Asia-Pacific airports in the 40 million-plus category to receive the departure award, underlining the consistency of its service standards across very high passenger volumes.

This latest recognition completes a series of awards achieved in downtown Guangdong. In 2024, Skytrax named Guangzhou Baiyun the “Best Airport in China” at its World Airport Awards, after the facility topped ACI’s global airport service quality rankings for four consecutive years. Industry analysts said the consecutive awards show Baiyun has become a top international airport in terms of service, facilities and operational reliability.

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Operationally, 2025 is a record year. Passenger numbers at Baiyun exceeded 80 million for the first time, with official figures later putting the figure at around 83.6 million trips and 2.44 million tonnes of cargo and mail – both all-time highs – cementing its role as a core hub in the Greater Bay Area (GBA). The airport also expanded its reach with 76 new international and regional routes, which were continued or enhanced, boosting its overseas network to more than 100 destinations.

This year’s busy Spring Festival travel has highlighted this growth. Between February 15 and 23, Baiyun handled around 15,000 flights – an average of 1,656 movements a day, up 7.6 percent compared to last year – and 2.4 million passengers, an increase of 9.5 percent. Daily traffic reached consecutive records on February 22 and 23, at 283,400 and 286,400 passengers respectively.

The award also reflects the broader momentum of the GBA airport cluster, which will process more than 230 million passenger journeys by 2025 and is now considered one of the world’s leading aviation groups. With Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong acting as core hubs and adding dozens of international routes between them, aviation planners say the region’s airports are a key driver of China’s integration with the global air network.