The world's best airports of 2012 have just been named at the annual Airport Quality Services Awards.

Each year a list of the best airports in the world is compiled by Airports Council International, an international non-profit group that researches customer satisfaction and airport efficiency.

The Airport Quality Services Awards are held each year to honor the winners of four categories: Best Airport by Region, Best Airport by Region (Fewer than 2 million Passengers per Year), Best Airport by Size, and Best Improvement.

This year, the ACI decided to remove the 'Best Airport Worldwide' category, deciding instead to focus more attention on categories that facilitate comparison, particularly airport size and region.

This year's recipients included some old hats and some new surprises.

Topping the regional bests are: Cape Town (Africa), Seoul Incheon (Asia-Pacific), Moscow Sheremetyevo (Europe), Cancun (Latin-America-Caribbean), Abu Dhabi (Middle East), Indianapolis (North America).

This is the eighth consecutive win for Seoul's Incheon Airport, an honor that is unprecedented.

Indianapolis tops the North American category for the second time since 2010.

"This an exciting time for airports. As airports and their operators increasingly accept the positive correlation between passenger satisfaction and airport revenues," said ACI World Director General Angela Gittens at the awards ceremony. "We see more and more airports striving to meet, and in some cases exceed, the levels of customer service that their passengers expect from their favored product and service providers."

The awards program identifies the most passenger-friendly airports throughout the world. Results come from year-round passenger satisfaction surveys conducted in gate areas.

Since its creation in 2006, the ASQ Survey has become the world's leading airport passenger satisfaction benchmark with over 200 airports participating.

The ASQ Awards are the only global airport rankings to be based on a measure of the passengers' satisfaction taken while the passenger is still at the gate.

"Airports that deliver superior customer service stand apart from the competition and superior customer service remains one of the most important differentiators in the increasingly competitive airport industry," marked Gittens.

Other winners this year include:

Best Airport by Region (fewer than 2 million passengers a year) - Upington (Africa), Skopje (Europe), Victoria (North America)

Best Improvement - Mombasa (Africa), Sanya (Asia-Pacific), Faro (Europe), Santo Domingo (Latin-America-Caribbean), Abu Dhabi (Middle East), Winnipeg (North America)

Best Airport by Size - Hohhot (2-5m), Nagoya (5-15m), Seoul Gimpo (15-25m), Seoul Incheon (25-40m),
Singapore (over 40m)