by Brianna Crandall — March 29, 2013—Montreal-based Airports Council International (ACI), said to be the only global trade representative of airports, recently announced the recipients of its annual Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards for 2012. The ASQ Awards recognize and reward the best airports in the world based on ACI’s ongoing ASQ passenger satisfaction surveys and represent an opportunity to celebrate the commitment of airports worldwide to continually improve the passenger experience.
ASQ Awards are presented in four categories. ACI discontinued its Best Airport Worldwide award category to focus more attention on categories that facilitate comparison, particularly airport size and region. The 2012 Airport Service Quality Award first place winners in each category are:
- Best Airport by Size: Millions of Passengers per Year (First Place): Hohhot (2-5 million), Nagoya (5-15 million), Seoul Gimpo (15-25 million), Seoul Incheon (25-40 million), Singapore (over 40 million)
- Best Airport by Region (First Place): Cape Town (Africa), Seoul Incheon (Asia-Pacific), Moscow Sheremetyevo (Europe), Cancun (Latin-America-Caribbean), Abu Dhabi (Middle East), Indianapolis (North America)
- Best Airport by Region: Airports with Fewer than 2 Million Passengers per Year: Upington (Africa), Skopje (Europe), Victoria (North America)
- Best Improvement: Mombasa (Africa), Sanya (Asia-Pacific), Faro (Europe), Santo Domingo (Latin-America-Caribbean), Abu Dhabi (Middle East), Winnipeg (North America)
ACI World Director General Angela Gittens stated, “This an exciting time for airports. As airports and their operators increasingly accept the positive correlation between passenger satisfaction and airport revenues, we see more and more airports striving to meet, and in some cases exceed, the levels of customer service that their passengers expect from their favored product and service providers. Airports that deliver superior customer service stand apart from the competition, and superior customer service remains one of the most important differentiators in the increasingly competitive airport industry.”
Lists of all of the top performers in each category and region are available on the 2012 ASQ Awards site. Since its creation in 2006, the ASQ Awards have reportedly become the world’s leading airport passenger satisfaction benchmark, with over 275 airports participating. The ongoing program includes regular quarterly performance reports based on results of the ASQ passenger satisfaction surveys, and ASQ forums for data review and best practice sharing.
