ACI Media Press Release Archives (2006)

Abu Dhabi – Korea’s Incheon International Airport has been named Best Airport Worldwide according to the AETRA passenger survey programme that was jointly administered by ACI and IATA in 2005. Second place honours were awarded to Hong Kong International Airport and Singapore Changi Airport, with Kuala Lumpur International Airport taking the third place title – a remarkable performance for Asia Pacific airports.

All top-ranking airports in the survey’s 11 main categories were announced at a special awards ceremony held at this year’s ACI Airport Service Quality Conference in Abu Dhabi. (Please see the table below) The results from the worldwide benchmarking survey are derived from over 100,000 completed questionnaires collected from passenger surveys administered at 66 airports worldwide during all four quarters of last year.

This year’s passenger survey is the last under the AETRA name. Since January 2006, ACI has offered a new programme under its new name Airport Service Quality (ASQ). In the first quarter of 2006, new participants joined the launch of the ASQ programme, bringing the total number to 73 airports worldwide, and ACI expects to reach 100 participants by year end. Participating airports will meet on a regular basis to provide on-going input to the survey programme and ensure that this valuable tool evolves in a meaningful way.

The ASQ survey focuses on a variety of aspects valued by passengers that make a difference to their travel experience. Pleasant ambience and high quality service are rated highly by the respondents. The questionnaire feedback highlights the importance of staff courtesy, airport cleanliness, clear directional signage, ground transportation, parking and a range of service offerings such as shopping, dining, telecommunications and computer services. By participating year after year, airport managers can measure progress on the various parameters covered by the survey as well as benchmark their services relative to other airports.

Welcoming over 250 delegates to the ceremony, ACI Director General Robert J Aaronson said, “The true winners are the airport customers who are beneficiaries of the airports’ drive to make sure that their facilities and services meet the highest standards of excellence. Every airport joining ASQ is also a winner as the programme is designed to generate detailed service analysis results that enable management teams to target improvements and new services. In our competitive air transport industry, airports know that customer satisfaction builds customer loyalty and that the customer is at the heart of our future success.”

Airport Service Excellence Awards for 2005