Montreal Airport just swept 2 major awards — and none of them are for "most delays"

If you've travelled through Montreal–Trudeau International Airport lately, you might have noticed something surprising — no, not the handwritten flight info boards or the crowds of stranded passengers (that was last month). We're talking about its sparkling clean floors and helpful staff, apparently.

According to the 2025 World Airport Awards, Montreal's airport has just been named the cleanest in North America. It also took home the title of best airport staff in North America, beating out heavy hitters like Toronto Pearson and LAX.

Meanwhile, Vancouver International Airport (YVR) ranked as the best airport in North America overall, and even landed at #13 on the list of the best airports in the world, flanked by Helsinki and Istanbul.

The annual ranking, published by Skytrax, is based on global passenger surveys assessing everything from hygiene to service quality. And while YUL didn't crack the list of the top 20 airports in the world, it's still bringing home some impressive regional wins.

That said, Montreal's airport has had a very mixed year.

Just last week, YUL became the subject of a class action lawsuit following a March 25 meltdown that stranded travellers for nearly 24 hours. A scheduled Bell Canada update triggered a massive systems failure that shut down passenger processing, check-in, and even security services.

Travellers were left to navigate the chaos with handwritten instructions, overwhelmed staff, and slow-moving lines, prompting legal action to recover costs for missed flights, wages, and more. You can still register to join that lawsuit if you were at the airport that day — even if you didn't board a flight.

So yes, the floors are clean. And yes, the staff are lovely — assuming the computers are working. Just maybe don't schedule your next big vacation around a software update.

You can view the full list of winners at worldairportawards.com.

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