SOUTH KOREA. Incheon International Airport Corp (IIAC) won the Best Airport Award for the seventh year in a row in Airports Council International’s Airport Service Quality Awards. The announcement was made by ACI Director General Angel Gittens on day one of The Trinity Forum, hosted by IIAC, in Seoul on Tuesday. The Trinity Forum is co-organised by The Moodie Report and ACI.
Gittens noted IIAC’s achievement in being named number one for seven years. “We have seen a sharp increase in service standards worldwide among participating airports, so Incheon has had to improve every year to remain number one,” she said.
IIAC President and CEO CW Lee greeted the news, as did Korea’s Minister for Land, Transport & Maritime Affairs Do-yeop Kwon. He told delegates at the Trinity Forum: “It is a great pleasure to hear that Incheon has won this award for the seventh year. I thank all airport users for their high evaluation and the airport operators at Incheon for their hard work. Incheon was opened in 2001 and has had a lot of investment; it is a wonderful cooperation between the government and private sector. It shows that airports no longer are just places where you can get on and off aircraft, but where you can also have an experience.”
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Incheon Airport President & CEO CW Lee greets the news of the airport’s triumph |
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Angela Gittens said that Incheon had had to improve every year to remain as number one |
Incheon was followed by Singapore Changi Airport and Beijing Capital International Airport in second and third in the overall rankings.
By region, the winners were Dubai (Middle East), Cape Town (Africa), Ottowa (North America), Incheon (Asia Pacific), Malta (Europe) and Cancun (Latin America).
ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Director Patti Chau said: “I wish to extend my congratulations to all the airports being recognized in the 2011 ACI Airport Service Quality Awards. This marks the seventh year in a row that Seoul Incheon International Airport has been named Best Airport Worldwide. Asia-Pacific airports have continued their success in demonstrating their commitment to customer service excellence and received the passengers’ vote of confidence. The 2011 result is very impressive as over 75% of the recognised airports are from the Asia-Pacific and Middle East region.”
ASQ is an annual award recognising airports on their customer service. The awards are based on results of the overall satisfaction of departing passengers. Only airports which have participated in all four quarters of the year and followed the sampling methodology are eligible for an award. The top three airports in each region and size category will receive an award which will be presented on May 24, 2012 during the gala dinner at the ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly, Conference and Exhibition to be held in Singapore.
ASQ Survey is the world’s leading airport customer satisfaction benchmark programme with over 190 airports in more than 50 countries surveying their passengers every month of the year.17 Asia-Pacific airports have joined ASQ in 2011 and a total of 69 Asia-Pacific airports have joined the programme since 2006.
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