According to Yonhap News,

(SEJONG = Yonhap News) South Korea's Incheon International Airport, the country's main gateway, was named the world's best airport for the ninth consecutive year, the transportation ministry said Wednesday.

The South Korean airport scored the highest among some 1,700 members of the Airports Council International in its annual airport service quality (ASQ) survey, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. It was followed by Singapore's Changi Airport and China's Beijing Capital International Airport, in that order.

The ASQ evaluates airports in 34 categories that include passenger satisfaction, immigration service and security. No other airport has kept the No. 1 spot for nine straight years.

In 2012, the average amount of time required for processing at the Incheon airport was 19 minutes for departure and 12 minutes for arrival, both less than a third of the global average of 1 hour and 45 minutes, respectively.

The Incheon airport has also been named the best airport of the year among all large airports with over 25 million passengers per year, the ministry said in a press release.

Singapore's Changi Airport topped the list of largest airports with over 40 million annual passengers.

South Korea's Gimpo International Airport, another major gateway to Seoul, ranked the highest among all medium-sized airports that have annual passenger traffic of between 15 million and 25 million, becoming the world's best in the group for the fourth consecutive year.

Starting this year, the Incheon airport may compete against the world's largest airports as its annual passenger traffic topped 40 million in 2013.

A third-stage expansion project is currently under way at the airport that includes the construction of an additional passenger terminal.