Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is the most efficient airport in the world, according to a comprehensive ranking of global airports, conducted by a team of international aviation academics at UBC’s Sauder School of Business.

The ATRS Global Airport Benchmarking Report compares the operational and management efficiency, as well as cost competitiveness of 195 airports and 26 airport groups in North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania.

Among airports serving more than 15 million passengers per year, Copenhagen, Seoul Gimpo and Sydney led their respective continents in overall efficiency, while Vancouver International Airport was Canada’s top performer.

“Our report finds that the highly efficient airports are more likely to get a large share of total revenues from concession and other retail activities, parking, office rentals, and real estate development,” says Sauder School of Business Prof. Tae Oum, who led the study. “We can also see that airports that outsource terminal services, ground handling and other services also achieve high efficiency.”