EUROPE. Airports Council International (ACI) have announced the winners of the 10th Annual ACI Europe Best Airport Awards, revealed during the gala dinner of the 24th ACI Europe Annual Congress hosted by Fraport.
The award ceremony marked the end of an intensive day of debate, discussion and networking amongst more than 300 industry leaders, including senior representatives from airports, their business partners, including airlines and Air Navigation Service Providers, as well as national governments and the EU institutions. The theme of this year’s event is “˜Compelling Connectivity for our Cities, Regions and Europe’.
The judging panel was drawn from a well-respected group of independent experts from Eurocontrol, ECAC, the World Tourism Forum and Air Transport World magazine. ACI Europe counts over 450 airports in 44 European countries among its membership and this year’s competition saw a high level of entries in each of the five categories.
The ACI Europe Best Airport Awards (which are separate from the ACI World ASQ Awards) cover four traffic categories of airports and aim to recognise achievement in core activities such as customer service, retail, security and corporate responsibility. There is also a separate award devoted specifically to airports’ environmental efforts.
The awards were presented to the winning airports by ACI Europe Director General Olivier Jankovec, ACI World Director General Angela Gittens, SITA Vice-President Catherine Mayer, European Commission Head of Unit for Airports & Infrastructure Emmanuelle Maire, and ECAC Executive Secretary Salvatore Sciacchitano.
The first award, recognising airports in the “˜1-5 million passenger’ category, went to London City Airport. The judges awarded the prize to the airport for its eagerness to innovate (i.e. “˜The Smarter Airport Experience’ and CAA “˜Just Culture’ pilot), as well as for its quality of service (e.g. free Wi-Fi & shoeshine), and active sustainability agenda.
The winner of the “˜5-10 million passenger’ category was Stuttgart Airport. ACI said the airport has proved to be a very good performer in all areas of operation but the judges singled it out for its focus on the quality of its services as well as on its hard work in strengthening relations with its local community.
This year’s award in the “˜10-25 million passenger’ category went to Athens International Airport. Athens secured this award due to its high economic performance in a very challenging context, its excellent work in redeveloping its traffic base while keeping a strong focus on the quality of service.
And in the final category, for airports with “˜over 25 million passengers’, this year’s ACI Europe Best Airport award went to Barcelona El Prat Airport. A previous winner in 2010, the judges deemed that the airport demonstrates a strong performance in key areas, thanks to its sound investment in its infrastructure and high commitment to environmental sustainability. The airport’s strong management team, passenger focus and impressive achievements in increasing in its route network in 2013 – despite difficult trading conditions – also impressed the jury.
This year’s Eco-Innovation Award, which is awarded by the independent Advisory Board of Airport Carbon Accreditation, went to Oslo Airport in recognition of its integral and systematic environmental management. The airport is already carbon neutral and it continues to work tirelessly to improve the energy efficiency of its operations, to minimise waste and to engage in active environmental relations with its partners, local communities and other stakeholders.
