Zurich Airport has been named as the world's best airport for security controls by the international rating organization Skytrax in 2023. In the rankings of the best airports overall, Zurich has risen one place from 9th in the previous year to 8th for 2023.

In 2026, Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) and Seoul Incheon (ICN) are consistently ranked as having the world's best security experiences. Changi is particularly noted for its integrated, high-speed security systems that often occur at the individual gate level for certain terminals, rather than one massive central bottleneck. Many top-tier airports have now implemented biometric "walk-through" tunnels and AI-powered scanners that allow passengers to leave liquids and laptops inside their bags. Following Changi and Incheon, airports like Dubai International (DXB) and Tokyo Haneda (HND) are praised for their efficiency and precision. These rankings (often published by Skytrax) evaluate not just safety effectiveness, but also the "friction" of the process—how quickly and politely passengers are moved through checkpoints while maintaining the highest global security standards.