Salt Lake International rated No. 1 airport in United States
Spacious arrival and departure lanes add to the appeal of Salt Lake City International Airport. The hub was rated the top airport in the U.S. in AirHelp’s annual ranking of large airports for 2025. (Photo courtesy HOK Architects)
John Rogers
Salt Lake Business Journal
If you fly a lot as part of your job, you know that all airports are not created equal. There’s nothing worse than finding yourself dealing with a bad terminal — especially if that’s where your trip starts or ends.
But business travelers — in fact, all travelers — who spend much time at Salt Lake City International Airport have found a big difference here. And according to a new ranking from online travelers’ aid service AirHelp, the Utah experience is the best in the United States.
Salt Lake City International Airport checked in as the best airport in America, according to AirHelp’s grading system. Overall, the 114-year-old airport ranked eighth in the world, the only representative from the United States in the top 20.
AirHelp establishes its rankings by weighing each airport in three categories: on-time performance, which accounts for 60 percent of the grade, and customer service and food and shops, which each count for 20 percent of an airport’s score. The system ranked 250 airports in 68 countries, analyzing flights from June 1, 2024, through
May 31, 2025.
“There are over 4,000 airports in our database, which we whittled down to 250, based on the busiest airports according to flight traffic, and most popular with air travelers,” AirHelp said. “We aim to rank the world’s major airports, but it’s worth noting that some are excluded due to a lack of data.”
Salt Lake City’s overall score was 8.29, led by 8.3 marks in on-time performance and food and shops.
“A flight arriving within 15 minutes of its scheduled arrival time is considered on time,” AirHelp explained
“We calculated how many flights were on time and expressed this number as a percentage. The higher the score, the higher the percentage of on-time flights. For example, a score of 8.5 means 85 percent of flights were on time.”
Salt Lake City’s lowest grade was an 8.1 in customer opinion. That score was calculated on four factors: airport staff, wait times, accessibility and cleanliness.
In 2024, Salt Lake City International Airport set a record with 28,364,610 passengers served, up more than 5 percent from its previous record the year before.
Beginning in 2020, the airport began rolling out an expanded and modernized terminal that it called “The New SLC.” The $5 billion project has been opening in phases and will be completed in 2026. In addition to a new 909,000-square-foot hub and two concourses, the renovations also include expanding Salt Lake City’s gate capacity from 45 to 94, more than doubling its flight capabilities. Designed by architecture firm HOK, the project showcases a terminal that is bright and spacious, with 50-foot glass walls that flood the space with natural light and offer sweeping views of the Wasatch Mountains.
With an overall ranking of 21st, the Los Angeles International Airport ranked as the second-best airport in the U.S. The third-best airport in the U.S. was the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, which ranked 22nd in the world.
Cape Town International Airport in South Africa notched the global top spot in AirHelp’s yearly report, scoring an 8.57. In an X post, the airport called its No. 1 ranking a “proud moment for South Africa and our country’s airport networks.”
Of the U.S Airports rated by AirHelp, Newark Liberty International Airport was ranked the worst U.S. airport, with Fort Lauderdale Hollywood Airport and Philadelphia Airport close behind. Newark’s low score was heavily impacted by its poor on-time performance and issues with its air traffic control system, according to the AirHelp report.
Tunis Carthage Airport in Tunisia had the dubious honor of coming in last of the 250 airports rated worldwide.
Based in Berlin, Germany, AirHelp is an online service that helps airline passengers seek compensation for flight cancellations, delays or overbookings.