AIRPORT WORLD 2024, ISSUE 04
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Airport profile: Amsterdam Schiphol
Special report: Asia’s big build
Plus: ACI News, Sustainability & SMART Airports review
Everything counts
Editor, Joe Bates, reflects on the importance of good customer service in this ‘passenger facilitation’ themed issue of Airport World.
Some 16 years ago, I pondered what constituted good customer service at an airport, and the question is still as relevant today as when I originally asked it back in February 2008.
Does it mean a sparkling new terminal equipped with the best technology money can buy? How about fast and efficient services? And what about being served by pleasant and helpful staff?
My conclusion back then, and still is today, is that it is probably a combination of all three and more as good customer service invariably means different things to different people, and these ‘ideals’ are certainly not a constant. A lone business traveller, for example, wouldn’t bat an eyelid if an airport has a crèche, but these feelings maybe very different if travelling on holiday with their young family.
At the time, I touched on the importance of staff courteousness and service with a smile, because an airport could literally spend millions of dollars on a new terminal building or the modernisation of old facilities, but it really counts for very little if airport staff fail to provide a good customer experience.
In my opinion, good communication is also a key factor in the delivery of top notch customer service, and I’m glad to say that this is something airports are much better at doing today than they were in 2008, primarily through the use of technology that can keeps us up to date on everything from the length of security queues at check-in and the walking distances to gates, to the occupancy level of airport restrooms.
ACI’s highly successful Airport Service Quality (ASQ) customer excellence programme has also played a major part in helping airports improve their respective customer service levels over the years.
Early ASQ results, for example, highlighted the importance of the cleanliness of airport terminals, and in particular restrooms, when it comes to overall passenger satisfaction levels, and airports across the globe have noted this and upped their game in terms of how they view and look after them.
And for anyone thinking that keeping an airport’s toilets clean cannot be that difficult, just consider the fact that at the recent SMART Airports & Regions Conference and Exhibition in Denver (See page 38), Miami Dade Aviation Department’s digital strategy and chief information officer, Maurice Jenkins, revealed that 100,000 passengers a month use one single restroom at Miami International Airport.
We highlight a number of innovative ways that airports are becoming more operationally efficient and passenger focused in this ‘passenger facilitation’ themed issue of Airport World.
These include taking a closer look at the potentially revenue generating benefits of becoming more family-friendly; showcasing airport art; and enhancing the passenger experience through new technology, facilities and services.
We also hear from Abu Dhabi Airports managing director and CEO, Elena Sorlini, about the transformational benefits of Zayed International Airport’s new Terminal A and the company’s customer service strategy.
Our main airport feature is on Amsterdam Schiphol. This edition also includes a comprehensive round-up of airport infrastructure projects in South East and East Asia, and our review of the recent SMART Airports & Regions Conference and Exhibition in Denver.
Elsewhere in the issue we hear from ACI World director general and CEO, Luis Felipe de Oliveira; report on some of the latest sustainability initiatives going on at airports across the world; and consider how strategically utilising modern technological solutions can streamline airport operations.
We round out the issue by addressing the importance of designing airports for a diverse range of travellers in our regular ‘people matters’ column; and report on the latest news from ACI and ACI’s World Business Partners (WBP).
