INTERNATIONAL. Airports Council International (ACI) has today announced the top performing airports in its latest Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey – and the results were a clean sweep for Asian airports.
Incheon International Airport near Seoul took first place, Kuala Lumpur International was second and Singapore Changi third.
This is the third year in a row that airports from the Asia Pacific region have commanded the top three positions in the worldwide category.
The survey rankings are based on results from nearly 200,000 questionnaires completed by passengers in 2007, giving their appraisal of 34 airport service factors, from check-in through to departure at the gate.
The official awards ceremony will be held on 1 April at a Gala Dinner in Shanghai. That dinner is a unique shared Gala event between the ASQ conference and the ACI Airport Business & Trinity Forum (a joint venture between ACI and The Moodie Report). The latter takes place on 1-2 April (Opening Cocktail 31 March), with the ASQ conference being held on 31 March-1 April. Both the conference and the Forum will be held at the Shangri-La Pudong Hotel.
First place regional awards went to Portugal’s Oporto Airport in Europe, Dallas Fort Worth in North America, Johannesburg in Africa, Guayaquil in Latin America & Caribbean, Tel Aviv in the Middle East and Incheon in Asia Pacific.
In the five annual-passenger traffic size categories, top honours were taken by Halifax (fewer than five million), Central Japan (five to 15 million), Kuala Lumpur (15-25 million), Seoul Incheon (25-40 million) and Hong Kong (over 40 million).
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ACI Programme Director Craig Bradbrook said: “Service quality should never be viewed as a ‘nice to have’ feature in managing airport services, but as a key discipline in the airport management process. We see a high correlation between management commitment to service and passenger satisfaction.”
Additional categories included best domestic airport – in which Halifax in Canada, and Austin and Ottawa in Canada took top honours this year – and best improvement over previous year, which was awarded to Aberdeen in Scotland.
Southampton, Incheon and Halifax were all given the airport people award, with passengers rating the airports as having the most courteous and helpful airport, airline and security staff.
Two further special recognition awards will be presented this year. Shanghai Airport Authority Chairman Wu Nianzu is to be recognised for what ACI describes as “strong leadership in modernising and expanding the airports under his direction”.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and Singapore Changi airport will also be honoured for outstanding leadership in airport business for the past 20 years.
ACI Director General Robert J Aaronson said: “It is a my privilege to recognise the dedication of forward-looking individuals and organisations who are paving the way for airport excellence in times of growth and change. They are models for our industry, and we wish to specially acknowledge their leadership, innovation and commitment to quality in airport service delivery.”
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