Singapore is a tiny city-state, but it looms large in the international aviation industry since its national air carrier and airport topped two separate lists of best airlines and gateways made by Business Insider.

The Web site explained its choice of Singapore's Changi Airport as the top of 10 best gateways in the world because of its design to alleviate the stress of travelers by providing air passengers a lot of greenery, an outdoor poor and a butterfly garden.

The airport also offers movie theatres, spas, showers and a four-storey slide, leading the Web site's editor to comment that it is a place where travelers would enjoy a long layover.

Here is the top 10 list of the world's 10 best airports and the number of passengers it handled in 2012.

1. Changi Airport, Singapore - 51.2 million

2. Incheon International Airport, South Korea - 39.2 million

3. Schipol, Amsterdam - 51 million

4. Hong Kong International Airport - 56.1 million

5. Beijing Capital International Airport - 81.9 million

6. Munich Airport, Germany - 38.4 million

7. Zurich Airport, Switzerland - 24.8 million

8. Vancouver International Airport, Canada - 17.6 million

9. Haneda International Airport, Tokyo - 66.8 million

10. Heathrow Airport, London - 70 million

Significantly, except for the Canadian airports, all the other gateways in the list are in Asia or Europe, somewhat confirming that the coming years would definitely be the Asian Century.

Even for airlines, Singapore's flag carrier also topped the list of 20 best airlines.

Business Insider came up with the list of best air carriers after observing that in an era of very high air fares, costly fees and flight delays, flying economy has become a nightmare while 30,000 feet up in the skies.

However, there are some exceptions to those general observations where passengers are still treated nicely and costs are reasonable on long-haul trips as measured by seat comfort, in-flight entertainment, cabin cleanliness and condition, quality of meals served and service efficiency.

Here is the top 20 list made by reviewer Skytrax and the respective on-time performance of the air carriers.

1. Singapore Airlines - 74

2. Malaysia Airlines - 74

3. Virgin America - 74

4. Asiana Airlines - 80

5. Qatar Airways - 80

6. All Nippon Airways - 74

7. Garuda Indonesia - 74

8. Silk Air - 74

9. Korean Air - 74

10. Air New Zealand - 74

11. Cathay Pacific - 74

12. South African Airways - 74

13. Turkish Airways - 74

14. Finnair - 74

15. Thai Airways - 74

16. Japan Airways - 74

17. Oman Air - 75

18. Air Astana - 82

19. Lufthansa - 75

20. Etihad Airways - 74

Skytrax noted that the Singapore Airline cabin crew is trained to treat all passengers with respect.

Significantly, Australian flag carrier and strike-prone Qantas is not on the list, while the carrier it ditched, Singapore Airlines, is number one. Also not on the list is Qantas's new partner, Emirates.

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