If you've ever been to Seoul's Incheon International Airport you'll hopefully agree that it's one of the best airports in the world. In fact, the airport took third place with SkyTrax's list of best airports. The company behind this beautiful facility is Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) - which we were surprised to learn, at the recent Kuwait Aviation Show, played a role in shaping other airports around the world.

One of the world's best airports

This is a subjective claim and there are many reasons travelers may choose to transfer through a particular airport over another. Traveling around East Asia allowed me to experience Terminal 2 of Seoul Incheon a number of times with Korean Airlines and Air France.

The terminal offered a number of things you'd have to pay for at most airports around the world: a free darkened nap room, a free shower facility, and a free 'interactive gym' facility - it was a pretty amazing and impressive experience. It made my overnight layovers actually quite pleasant.

Fast forward roughly a year later to the Kuwait Aviation Show where I see IIAC's booth and a map of their projects around the world:

Exporting 'experience and expertise'

One of the main activities of the company is stated on their website: "Export Incheon Airport’s experience and expertise as a seasoned airport construction and management business to motivate further growth in the sector and raise global leaders in the aviation field."

Without any background or experience in airport construction, thinking about who designs and manages airports is not what crosses my mind as a frequent flyer. However, it makes a lot of sense that international firms would be brought in for management and consultation of a project. This would clearly be the case if reliable expertise is lacking within a country's borders.

So it was interesting to discover the diverse number of projects that IIAC was involved in. Projects such as:

• Kuwait International Airport's Terminal 4
• Istanbul's New Airport
• Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport
• Jakarta Airport

Not just IIAC

I think what makes IIAC stand out is that the company's name, Incheon International Airport Corporation, is almost identical to the name of the actual airport in Seoul. So when you're traveling out of an airport like Kuwait, you wouldn't expect to see the Incheon name and logo prominently displayed. However, as the research progressed for this article, we had the chance to check out a few similar companies.

Companies such as:

Japan Airport Consultants: Involved not just with Tokyo's Haneda and Narita airports, but also Kiev's Boryspil International, Beijing Capital, Lima International, Mombassa International, and several more.

Lufthansa Consulting: Another really interesting case of its own! Branded identical to the airline, Lufthansa Consulting has projects in countries around the world including South Africa, Brazil, Russia, and more.

TH Airport Consulting: Numerous projects around the world - including at Denver, Athens, and Delhi International airports. This company also lists the notorious Berlin Brandenburg as one of its airport projects.

As a traveler, you're probably not going to think too much about the consulting firm responsible for the airports you're traveling through; you would have more important things to worry about. However, it does make you more aware of good and bad airport design and who might be ultimately responsible for it.

What's your favorite airport? Let us know in the comments!