Customer service excellence: We salute you!

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 hubs of Istanbul (IST) and Rome-Fiumicino (FCO) in Europe; Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta (ATL) and San Francisco (SFO) in North America; Singapore Changi (SIN) and Delhi (DEL) in Asia-Pacific to some of the world’s smaller gateways, such as Guanacaste (LIR) in Costa Rica and Salalah (SLL) in Oman.

Best by Size and Region

In Africa, Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport (CMN) tasted success in the 5-15mppa category; Blaise Diagne International Airport (DSS) in Senegal and SSR International Airport (MRU) in Mauritious couldn’t be separated in the 2-5mppa section; and Moi International Airport (MBA) in Mombasa, Kenya, won the Under 2mppa Award.

The winners were also pretty straightforward in the Middle East, Salalah (SLL) in Oman, Queen Alia (AMM) in Jordan, and Oman’s Muscat International Airport (MCT) winning in the Under 2mppa, 5-15mppa and 15-25mppa categories respectively.

Speaking about the success of Queen Alia, which also scooped the ‘Most Enjoyable Airport’ Award for the Middle East, Airport International Group’s CEO, Nicolas Claude, said: “Since the terminal building’s inauguration 10 years ago, we have been keen to listen carefully to the evolving needs and expectations of our passengers so that we may create a welcoming atmosphere that makes them feel at home, deliver a memorable customer experience and ensure a lasting positive impression of Jordan’s prime gateway to the world.

“We are privileged that the efforts of the entire airport community have been acknowledged by those who matter most – our passengers – whom we thank once again for choosing us as one of the best airports for customer experience worldwide. Congratulations to our teams, partners and stakeholders on these fantastic wins.”

It proved much harder to split the winners across Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin-America-Caribbean and North America in the Best by Size categories, with multiple winners for most awards.

The winners included China’s Beijing Daxing (PKX) and Gimpo (GMP) in Seoul, South Korea, sharing the 25-40mppa Award for the Asia-Pacific region; Alicante (ALC), Budapest (BUD) and Helsinki (HEL) doing likewise in Europe’s 15-25mppa category; while in North America, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) and Minneapolis/St Paul (MSP) jointly won the 25-40mppa Award and Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and San Francisco (SFO) did the same in the Over 40mppa category.

Singapore Changi, which was one of six airports to finish joint top in Over 40mppa category for Asia-Pacific, recently introduced a rock climbing wall (pictured left above) as one of its attractions.

Commenting on the ASQ success of Budapest Airport, CEO, Chris Dinsdale, said: “Winning this prestigious award is a truly proud moment for all at Budapest Airport. The customer is at the centre of everything we do. We actively listen to our passengers and ensure we evolve with our approach to their needs and expectations. The travel experience starts at the airport and we are exceptionally honoured to be a role model in the global aviation industry.”

Talking about Helsinki’s accolade, Finavia CEO, Kimmo Mäki, enthused: “We are delighted to have won the award and are proud that air passengers have chosen Helsinki Airport as the best airport in Europe. Year after year, Helsinki Airport continues to be ranked among the best airports in the world.

“We have designed and built Helsinki Airport and its renewed terminal for the air passengers. We believe that we have succeeded in developing an airport that serves the needs of different passengers in a versatile manner and improves the smoothness of travel.”

In addition to the ASQ award, Finavia was inducted into ACI World Director General’s Roll of Excellence for providing outstanding customer service over a five year period.

Maki added: “I would like to thank everyone at Finavia and all the companies and personnel operating at the airport for this fine achievement as well as the great customer service work that everyone working at the airport has committed to. A successful customer experience can only be created by working together.”

In the US, Wayne County Airport Authority CEO, Chad Newton, once again attributed DTW’s ASQ success down to the dedication and hard work of airport staff.

“Our entire team at Detroit Metropolitan Airport is responsible for DTW receiving this honour, our third ASQ Award since 2018,” said Newton.

“We’ve listened to customer feedback and developed action plans for improvement. Everyone played a role, including our airport authority staff, airlines, janitorial staff, Customs & Border Protection, TSA, concessionaires, and more. It’s encouraging to know our customers have noticed our efforts. We are grateful and remain dedicated to exceeding expectations at DTW.”

Thinking along the same lines, SFO’s airport director, Ivan Satero, commented: “We are truly honoured to be ranked by passengers as the top airport in North America in the ACI Airport Service Quality programme.

“Combined with our ranking as the top US airport by the readers of the Wall Street Journal, this latest award validates the hard work our team has put forth to create the world-class airport experience our customers truly appreciate and deserve.”

New Awards categories

From over 465,000 surveys collected in 2022, 144 awards have been won by 75 airports around the world. The awards categories include the perennial Best Airports by Size and Region, as well as new categories introduced this year to reflect the evolution of passenger needs:

• Airport with the Most Dedicated Staff
• Easiest Airport Journey
• Most Enjoyable Airport
• Cleanest Airport

Asia-Pacific airports again excel

Across all the award categories, nine Indonesian Airports won ASQ Awards, with Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport (UPG) winning five of the six categories it entered.

China (6 airports) India (6 airports), Malaysia (2) and Oman (2) also performed exceptionally well in the ASQ programme.

The region’s winners included Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport (BLR), which continued its success in the Best Airports at Arrivals Globally category, sharing the honour with Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL).

Kempegowda operator, BIAL, believes that factors such as its efficient deboarding procedures, streamlined immigration and customs processes, organised baggage claim services and the availability of infrastructure such as transit hotels and AI-powered assistance robots, ensure a smooth arrivals experience.

BIAL’s managing director and CEO, Hari Marar, enthused: “We are truly honoured to receive the Best Airport at ACI’s ASQ Arrival Survey Globally for the year 2022. This recognition comes as a testament to the hard work, dedication and commitment put forth by our team.

“We would like to thank the government authorities – Immigration, Customs and CISF – and the Airport Authority of India for their co-operation in enabling a seamless arrival process.

“We would also like to thank our passengers for their unwavering trust and confidence in us. This award further motivates us to continue to strive towards excellence and reinforce our position as one of the leading airports.”

ACI World Director General’s Roll of Excellence

In addition to the other awards, five new airports were inducted into the Director General’s Roll of Excellence, which honours airports that have won multiple awards in the ASQ programme over a five-year plus period.

The new additions are I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport (Bali, Indonesia); Helsinki Airport; (Helsinki, Finland); Guanacaste Airport (Liberia, Costa Rica); Quito International Airport (Quito, Ecuador); and Tallinn Airport (Tallinn, Estonia).

ACI World director general, Luis Felipe de Oliveira, said: “The passenger is the centre of everything, and this is reflected in every aspect of the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) programme.

“Travellers have spoken and recognised the successful efforts of these airport communities in providing outstanding customer experience. Congratulations to the best airports for customer experience worldwide.”

He noted: “The ASQ programme not only measures and benchmarks, but also provides airports of all sizes with an opportunity for continual learning and improvement to reach new heights in customer experience excellence.

“The new categories not only reflect the growth of the programme but also the evolution of passenger needs. It is a non-negotiable – airports must listen closely to the voice of customers so we can continue to serve people and communities in a sustainable and resilient way. This is the way forward.”

Most meaningful awards

Unlike other customer experience and benchmarking awards, the Amadeus sponsored ASQ programme is based on live research via surveys gathered at the airport — direct from the traveller — rating their satisfaction on the day of travel.

The survey covers over 30 performance indicators across key elements of the passenger’s airport experience such as ease of finding your way, check-in and the shopping and dining offerings. This gives the most complete picture of the passenger experience journey at each airport and provides global benchmarks for the industry. Last year, more than half of the world’s travellers passed through an ASQ airport.

Elena Avila, Amadeus’ EVP of airport IT and airline operations, said: “Passengers are the backbone of travel, and that’s exactly why we are thrilled to once again support ACI’s ASQ programme.

“The awards rightly celebrate airports striving to make positive changes in the face of challenges impacting our industry. Underpinned by closer collaboration between all stakeholders, we recognise modern technologies such as data analytics, biometrics, and the cloud are key to transforming the passenger experience.

“We at Amadeus look forward to supporting our airport customers to continue pushing passenger experience boundaries.”

The awards will be officially handed over to the winning airports during a ceremony at ACI’s Customer Experience Global Summit in Incheon, South Korea, this September (4-7).

Click the link ASQ Awards and Recognition to see the full list of ASQ Award Winners.