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Best Airport 2007 - ACI

World’s top customer service airports recognised - 12/03/2007

DUBAI, 12 March 2007 – Incheon International Airport in South Korea once again gained top honours in the 2006 Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Service Quality Awards held overnight in Dubai. The awards recognise customer service efforts made by airports taking part in the ACI programme and are based on responses to a survey of passengers conducted throughout the year.


At the customer service awards, Incheon International Airport was named ‘Best Airport Worldwide’, with Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur coming in second and third respectively – the second year in a row that all top three are from Asia-Pacific. On a regional basis, Zurich came top in Europe, Dallas Fort Worth in the Americas, Abu Dhabi in Africa-Middle East and Incheon in Asia-Pacific. [A full listing can be found at the bottom of this release]

In presenting the awards ACI Director General, Robert J Aaronson, said that airports around the world have made customer service a major focus: “Those airports that participate in the Airport Service Quality programme have made a special commitment to customer service improvement by measuring how passengers respond to services on offer and benchmarking their services against other airports around the world.

“The awards presented tonight recognise the airports that have received the passengers’ vote of confidence. The responses suggest that what drives customer satisfaction appears to be a good knowledge of passenger requirements. There is no single magic bullet; it is a question of understanding passenger preferences at each airport.”

The surveys found that frequent flyers look for swift and hassle-free airport experiences with minimum of contact with staff. Conversely, leisure or infrequent flyers place considerable emphasis on friendly and courteous staff. Leading factors with regard to customer satisfaction are the ambience of the airport and the cleanliness of the terminal, followed by feeling safe and having comfortable waiting areas.

ACI Director of Security, Craig Bradbrook commented: “The Airport Service Quality programme works alongside a number of other projects that ACI and our airports are involved in – often with other industry partners – to improve the entire experience that passengers have at airports. Technology can provide for speedy and efficient journeys, with the advent of self service kiosks, internet check-in and biometric border processing for example. However, the personal service that airport staff provides is also incredibly important.”

This year, a new award was presented – for the airports that have cultivated a strong customer service culture among all staff on the airport, including airline, border agency, retail and security employees. The “Airport People” awards went to Abu Dhabi in the Middle East-Africa, Brussels in Europe, Incheon in Asia-Pacific and Halifax in the Americas.

The Director General’s Special Recognition Award went to Dubai Airport for showing leadership, innovation and commitment to quality in airport service delivery over the past decade.


BY REGION
Best Airport Worldwide

1) Incheon, South Korea

2) Hong Kong

3) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

4) Singapore

5) Dallas Fort Worth, USA

Best Airport Europe
1) Zurich, Switzerland

2) Brussels, Belgium

3=) Helsinki, Finland

3=) Porto, Portugal

5) Munich, Germany

Best Airport America
1) Dallas Fort Worth, USA

2) Halifax, Canada

3=) Ottawa, Canada

3=) Detroit Metropolitan, USA

5) San Diego, USA

Best Airport Middle East-Africa

1) Abu Dhabi, UAE

2) Cape Town, South Africa

3) Doha, Qatar

4) Johannesburg, South Africa

5) Durban, South Africa

Best Airport Aisa-Pacific
1) Incheon, South Korea

2) Hong Kong

3=) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

3=) Singapore

5) Central Japan (NGO)

BY SIZE OF AIRPORT
Best Airpot <5 Million Passangers

1) Halifax, Canada

2) Ottawa, Canada

3) Porto, Portugal

4) Malta

5) Sandefjord, Norway

Best Airpot <15 Million Passangers
1) Central Japan (NGO)

2) Adelaide, Australia

3=) Helsinki, Finland

3=) Christchurch, New Zealand

5) Abu Dhabi, UAE

Best Airpot <25 Million Passangers
1) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2) San Diego, USA

3) Zurich, Switzerland

4) Brussels, Belgium

5) Vancouver, Canada

Best Airpot <40 Million Passangers

1) Incheon, South Korea

2) Singapore

3) Detroit Metropolitan, USA

4) Toronto, Canada

5) Munich, Germany

Best Airpot >40 Million Passangers
1) Hong Kong

2) Dallas Fort Worth, USA

3) Denver, USA

4) Amsterdam, Netherlands

5) Beijing, China

OTHER AWARDS
Best Domestic Airport
1) Austin, USA

2) Halifax, Canada

3) Ottawa, Canada

4) Dallas Fort Worth, USA

5) San Diego, USA

Airport People Award
Middle East-Africa) Abu Dhabi, UAE

Europe) Brussels, Belgium

Asia-Pacific) Incheon, South Korea

Americas) Halifax, Canada

DG's Special Recognition Award
Dubai, UAE