CUSTOMER SERVICE

The Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has approved $160 million for design and construction of the EWR Station Access project, which will add a new entry point to the Newark Liberty International Airport Rail Station. The project is expected to greatly improve transit accessibility for underserved Newark […]

ACI World today revealed the best airports on the planet for customer experience chosen by passengers in its Airport Service Quality (ASQ) programme. The ASQ award winners include Casablanca and Marrakech in Africa; Incheon International Airport, Singapore Changi and Shenzhen Bao’an in Asia-Pacific; Rome Fiumicino and Barcelona in Europe; Quito and Los Cabos in Latin […]

Munich Airport is no stranger to using robotic technology having trialled a number of devices over the years, the latest of which is a new snackbot from which passengers can buy food and drinks. Snackbot ‘JEEVES’ – the name is based on a loyal and competent servant from an English novel – offers a selection […]

Tulsa International Airport (TUL) passengers who are blind or have low vision (BLV) now have free access to the Aira app, which is a visual interpreting service that acts as an assistant to help users navigate their environments and answer their questions. Aira customers are able to use this service anywhere for a fee, but […]

Seychelles International Airport (SEZ) has officially achieved Level 1 status in ACI’s Airport Customer Experience Accreditation programme. The achievement comes two years after the introduction of the Seychelles Electronic Border System as well as upgrades to the airport infrastructure and facilities, which are ongoing. The ACI Airport Customer Experience Accreditation is the first and only […]

The ACI Customer Experience Global Summit, the airport industry’s annual event dedicated to enhancing the customer and employee experience, got underway in Incheon, South Korea, today. As usual for an event in South Korea, the numbers are good, with more than 500 international delegates, including government officials, airport and aviation executives, and customer experience experts, […]

Brisbane Airport is this week trialling therapy dogs in the Domestic Terminal as a way of reducing preflight stress for the travelling public. The trial initiative brings canine ambassadors into the terminal to provide a furry support to manage any anxiety. Sarah Whyte, head of communications and brand marketing at Brisbane Airport Corporation, enthused: 

”Therapy […]

We pay tribute to ACI World’s 2022 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Award winners whose customer service excellence continues to enhance the airport experience for passengers. Airports big and small across the world have been recognised for their customer service excellence throughout 2022 in ACI’s annual Airport Service Quality (ASQ) awards. Winners ranged from the big […]

Airports big and small across the world were today recognised for their customer service excellence throughout 2022 in ACI’s annual Airport Service Quality (ASQ) awards. Winners ranged from the big hubs of Istanbul and Rome-Fiumicino in Europe; Dallas/Fort Worth and San Francisco in the US; and Singapore Changi and Shenzhen Bao’an in Asia-Pacific to some […]

Jordan’s Queen Alia International Airport has become the first gateway in the Middle East to achieve Level 3 status in ACI’s Customer Experience Accreditation programme. To obtain Level 3, the Amman gateway notes that it implemented an “advanced customer experience strategy through multi-faceted engagement with customers, employees and customer experience professionals”. In addition, it says […]

Ferry transfer service between Hong Kong International Airport’s SkyPier and Macau are to resume on December 30, providing cross-boundary transport service for sea-to-air and air-to-sea transfer passengers. TurboJET, the ferry operator of the said service, will operate one round-trip between SkyPier and Macao Taipa Ferry Terminal every Friday and Sunday. Connecting to the Greater Bay […]

Heathrow has enlisted hundreds of ‘Little Helpers’ to kick off the festive season for passengers by giving away 10,000 Christmas gifts. The gifts from the airport’s shops, bars and restaurants range from teddy bears, perfumes and Pret breakfasts to free flights and lounge access, and will be given out across all four terminals in the […]

London’s Heathrow Airport has a new addition to its hospitality offering today following the opening of the Blush Lounge by the Plaza Premium Group (PPG). Located in Terminal 4, the new lounge can accommodate up to 105 passengers at a time and extends PPG’s sizeable presence at the UK hub. According to PPG, travellers will […]

Virtual queuing is coming to an airport near you soon and could represent the future of waiting at airports, writes Steve Covate. With the notable exception of the current COVID caused disruptions, it could be argued that airports – and the airlines and businesses that operate within them – have made giant strides in reducing […]

Airport World reports on a milestone achievement for Incheon International Airport and some of the highlights of the recent Customer Experience Global Summit in Kraków. Seoul’s Incheon International Airport (ICN) has become the first airport in the world to achieve the new Level 5 status in ACI’s Airport Customer Experience Accreditation programme. Incheon dominated ACI […]

London City Airport (LCY) and London Luton Airport (LTN) have been ranked the top two gateways in the UK by Conde Nast Traveller as part of their Readers’ Choice Awards. London Luton – or LLA as it prefers to call itself – has held the second place spot for the last three years. The airport’s chief […]

The newly remodelled Adelholzener Bar in Terminal 2 at Munich Airport offers visitors an Alpine setting to enjoy their soft drinks, draft beers or Bavarian favourites such as veal sausages and meatloaf! The airport used the pandemic forced closure of the departures area bar to carry out extensive renovations, and according to the gateway, the […]

Heathrow’s latest F&B offering, a 1930s Shanghai inspired Chinese restaurant, Shan Shui, has opened for business in Terminal 2. The outlet, officially opened this week by renowned restaurateur Ellen Chew, will double as a private viewing gallery with panoramic views of the runway. According to the operator, at its heart, Shan Shui will be all […]

Templemere’s Clare Williams Fannin takes a look at how digital technology is transforming the passenger experience. From facial recognition at passport control to high-tech baggage handling, airports have often been at the cutting-edge when it comes to the adoption of technology, and these solutions are being effectively utilised at busy travel hubs to improve efficiency […]

Karlee Butler Kennedy contends that the growth in geospatial data and digital indoor wayfinding can only enhance the passenger experience at airports. As people return to the world’s airports, they are finding an impressive assortment of creative leisure activities, world-class food and drink, and unique offerings that highlight a geographical region’s history and strengths. And […]

Customer feedback provider, HappyOrNot, has installed its smiley push button machines at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport ahead of the city hosting the Summer Olympics. Using HappyOrNot’s Smiley Terminal push-button type terminals, Narita International Airport (NRT) will collect substantial amounts of customer feedback, enabling it to monitor their passenger’s security experience at 23 checkpoints across the […]

Ljubljana Airport today inaugurated its new 10,000sqm passenger terminal, although the Slovenian gateway’s key new asset won’t officially open to passengers until July 1. Operator Fraport Slovenija, a subsidiary of global airport operator Fraport AG, has invested some €21 million in the ultra-modern terminal, which will ensure that Ljubljana Airport is equipped to meet future […]

Frequent flyers on Star Alliance member airlines will soon be able to use their biometric identity across any participating airline at any participating airport following a new agreement between the world’s largest airline alliance, NEC Corporation and SITA. The agreement announced today is aimed at accelerating the availability of biometric self-service touchpoints across Star Alliance’s […]

Airport World gets the latest news and reaction to ACI’s 2020 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) customer experience awards. It might have been easy for the world’s airports to let their usual high customer service standards drop in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic significantly reduced their passenger numbers, but ACI’s Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey proved […]

Incheon International Airport, arguably the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) king of recent years, has become the first gateway to achieve a new Level 4 status in ACI’s Airport Customer Experience Accreditation programme. Since ACI launched the world’s first Airport Customer Experience Accreditation programme in 2019, 45 airports around the world joined the programme to improve […]

Passengers passing through Dubai International Airport (DXB) now have free access to Magzter’s collection of more than 7,000 leading magazines, newspapers, journals and comics, arguably making it the world’s first ‘smart reading airport’. A fully contactless and paperless digital experience – using geo-fencing satellite technology – the Magzter partnership enables visitors to download the latest […]

ACI World has today revealed those airports that have continued to prioritise listening and engaging with customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. ‘The Voice of the Customer’ recognition is for airports which demonstrated significant efforts in gathering passenger feedback through the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) programme to help them better understand their customers during the pandemic. […]

According to booking platform Omio, Madrid Barajas is Europe’s most “passenger friendly” capital city airport based on a study of 30 gateways across the continent. The study ranked Madrid Barajas (MAD) top for its level of comfort and passenger-friendliness after assessing each individual airport’s facilities that included shops, restaurants and other F&B outlets. Omio states […]

It’s not all doom and gloom out there as LaGuardia Gateway Partners (LGP) has announced the opening of the eagerly awaited state-of-the-art water feature in the brand new Arrivals and Departures Hall at LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B. LGP is the private entity managing and redeveloping the new terminal. The Arrivals and Departures Hall opened earlier […]

Houston Airports is looking to purchase $3 million in new art for George Bush Intercontinental (IAH) and William P. Hobby (HOU) Airports. The airport operator already boasts one of Texas’ largest public art collections and its decision to boost its collection, in co-ordination with the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (MOCA), will be welcomed by […]

Asia-Pacific airports once again lead the way in ACI’s 2019 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) customer excellence awards, writes Joe Bates. The rising customer service standards at airports across the globe was reflected by the 140 awards given to 84 different gateways in the 2019 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) customer excellence programme. Asia-Pacific airports continue to […]

Vienna Airport (VIE) has begun offering COVID-19 tests to passengers as part of a series of initiatives designed to make it safer and easier to visit the Austrian capital. Passengers and employees are already required to wear protective face masks throughout the entire terminal area, which remains open to handle scheduled flights between Vienna and […]

Canberra Airport has become the first major Australian airport to introduce body temperature scanning at security as an additional safety measure against COVID-19. The initiative, according to head of aviation, Michael Thomson, shows that Canberra Airport is open for business and a safe and secure place for passengers to use. “Passengers departing Canberra arrive at […]

Rich Stinson tells us more about San Antonio International Airport’s multi-layered approach to customer service and how it is using technology to enhance the visitor experience. Like many airports throughout the world, San Antonio International Airport (SAT) wanted to provide a sense of place for passengers when travelling to or from San Antonio. To accomplish […]

The aviation industry has certainly felt the hit of COVID-19 – turning the green numbers into red in a matter of weeks or even days. With that said, this pandemic also reminds us of moments in history like 9/11, SARS, or financial recessions, when aviation took a hard hit, but returned from crisis and recovered […]

Ville Levaniemi, HappyOrNot’s co-founder and executive vice president of new business tells us more about the potential benefits of using customer service feedback technology at airports. A small-town in the Nordics may not seem like the most obvious inspiration point for a burgeoning technology start-up, but it certainly helped shape ours. My co-founder, Heikki, was a […]

Ambient scenting is one of the newest initiatives being embraced by airports as they look to enhance the passenger experience, writes Prolitec’s Roger Bensinger. Clearly airports are succeeding in finding ways to enhance their customers’ experience as passenger satisfaction levels are growing globally and are at a record high in Canada and the US, according […]

Society needs to pull together to deliver a world class service to travellers with reduced mobility, writes OmniServ’s head of innovation and regulatory compliance, Samantha Saunders. The number of people with disabilities travelling by air is increasing faster than the overall growth in air travel. In the UK, for example, while passenger traffic through its […]

What are the prerequisites to delivering exceptional customer experience along all touchpoints of the passenger journey? Redwater Consulting Group’s management consultant, Kateryna Hess, investigates. Customer experience (CX) has become a buzz word in today’s service industries from telecommunications, financial institutions and travel organisations to infrastructure providers. Consumers have become more connected and well informed about prices and […]

The human touch can make the difference for airports in today’s highly competitive digital age, writes Exambela Consulting’s David Feldman. The true impact of the digital revolution on the airport business is only now starting to become apparent. Digitising and automating a wide range of airport processes makes life smoother and faster for the passenger […]

New passenger processing technology will play a key role in raising customer satisfaction levels at airports, writes SITA’s president for air travel solutions, Matthys Serfontein. With IATA predicting that airlines will carry 8.2 billion passengers by 2037, just about double today’s numbers, the pressure really is on airports to enhance their capacity to enable them […]

Faik Fahmi, president director of Indonesian airport operator, Angkasa Pura 1, explains why customer service excellence is a priority at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport. Why do you take the provision of good customer service so seriously? Because Ngurah Rai International Airport is the first and last impressions most people have of Bali, and we […]

ACI World’s Valerie St James and Sevda Fevzi consider how the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Arrivals Survey can help airports create the best customer experience for their passengers. Are departing passengers more satisfied with an airport’s services than arriving passengers, or vice versa? Are there any specific groups of passengers particularly influenced or less satisfied […]

Collins Aerospace’s Tony Chapman explains how new technology will help airports meet growing passenger expectations and boost their bottom lines. High-end boutiques, five-star restaurants, cinemas, golf courses, even indoor parks and waterfalls … no longer the sole domain of luxury destinations, these are just a few of the amenities you’ll find in modern airports around the world. […]

Nova was the videoly that we all wanted to read in the Sixties because every issue brought something new and relevant to our lives: extraordinary fashion by Molly Parkin; innovative layouts and photographs by Harri Peccinotti; articles about the Pill and our new sexual freedom and a different take on beauty, fashion and celebrity – for one incredibly complicated story, we revamped the Queen. Our editor, Dennis Hackett, always thought outside the box a