Nashville International Airport landed the No. 2 spot in the 2026 USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice Awards for best large airport, according to results released on Oct. 14.
"As the gateway to Music City, Nashville International Airport serves as both the first and last impression for millions of travelers — and it’s one of the fastest-growing airports in the nation," the award states. "With 114 nonstop destinations, including 12 international routes like Reykjavík, Iceland, and Dublin, Ireland, BNA connects Nashville to the world like never before."
For the second year in a row, BNA took the runner-up spot, outranked only by Tampa International Airport. The Nashville airport set a new record in fiscal year 2026 with over 26.6 million annual passengers,
including 7.7% growth over the previous year. Meanwhile, the Tampa airport handled approximately 25.9 million travelers in that time period.
The Nashville airport currently has flights to 119 unique nonstop destinations, including 13 international destinations, and the list of international flights will continue to grow over the next year. Volaris starts a Guadalajara nonstop on Oct. 15. Southwest Airlines launches flights from Nashville to Aruba, Costa Rica, Jamaica, the Bahamas, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos in 2027. Plus, Air France recently announced its plans for a Paris-Nashville nonstop flight.
Apart from the best large airport award, BNA also ranked among the top five airports for its art program and grab-and-go food options.
The Metro Nashville Airport Authority and outside grants fund Arts at the Airport, a Nashville nonprofit dedicated to rotating public art exhibits, 15 large-scale permanent pieces and live music performances throughout the airport. Its most recent call for new art is for a suspended sculpture in the new Concourse A, an $855 million rebuild set to open in 2028. The budget for this single piece of art is $900,000, according to an airport document.
BNA has continuously been recognized for its concessions program since pivoting to bring local businesses into the terminal in 2019. For the second year in a row, USA TODAY readers voted hot chicken spot 400 Degrees into the No. 2 spot for best grab-and-go airport food.
The original 400 Degrees is in Nashville's Bordeaux neighborhood, and it has been featured on both The Food Network and The Cooking Channel. The airport location opened in 2021 in Concourse C, selling the same hot chicken, flatbread pizzas and burgers the restaurant has been known for.
Who decided winners of the USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice Awards?
The 10Best Awards began in 1999 and have since guided readers across travel, leisure, hospitality and dining experiences.
Every week of the year, USA TODAY selects a panel of industry experts to nominate their favorites in a given category. The public is then given four weeks to vote on what is truly the favorite. Last month, the topic was Best in Airports, and USA TODAY announced its results on Oct. 14.
Aviation experts nominated BNA for almost every category for which it qualified. It placed in the top five across four categories.
Hadley Hitson covers business news for The Tennessean. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com. To support her work,subscribe to The Tennessean.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Is Nashville's airport the best in the country? New poll says it's close
