Heathrow is the best airport in the world for shopping

Heathrow is back in the international spotlight and wins a new recognition in the world airport scene. London Airport was in fact awarded as the best airport in the world for shopping at the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2026, confirming the strength of its commercial offer and the central role of retail in the passenger experience. In the same ranking, Heathrow also moved up six places in the overall ranking of the best airports in the world, rising to 16th place. 

The result takes on a particular value because it comes directly from the judgment of Travellers. The Skytrax awards cover more than 550 airports worldwide and are based solely on the ratings expressed by passengers in the wider global airport customer satisfaction survey. 

 

In this context, Heathrow has established itself ahead of international reference hubs such as Singapore Changi and Doha Hamad for the quality of the shopping experience offered before the flight. 

Supporting this primacy is a large-scale retail proposal: Heathrow has 57,000 square meters of commercial space and houses over 300 shops and restaurants. The offering combines iconic British brands such as Burberry, Harrods, Johnnie Walker, Jo Malone and Cadbury with leading international brands such as Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Lululemon, Chanel No. 5, Moët & Chandon and Toblerone. 

 

A mix designed to intercept both premium purchases and more practical last-minute needs, transforming time at the airport into a real shopping experience.

Among the products most purchased by passengers are perfumes, whiskeys, sweets and small leather accessories. The numbers released by Heathrow tell the weight of the sector well: a bottle of perfume is sold every 20 seconds, a bottle of whiskey every 30 seconds at the airport and, in the December period alone, there is an airport duty-free transaction every 5 seconds. Data that confirm how travel retail is one of the distinctive elements of the experience offered by the London airport. 

The award also rewards the airport's commercial strategy, based on the DESO - Digital, Experience, Space, Offer - model with the aim of integrating physical and digital experience and adapting the commercial offer to highly used terminals and high traffic volumes.