Hygiene and customer service remain top priorities for airports

ACI World today revealed the results of its annual Airport Service Quality (ASQ) customer excellence survey, with 33 airports picking up ‘hygiene’ awards in the programme which was modified for 2020 to take into account the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the airport industry’s response to it.

Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, airports managed to collect ASQ surveys from their customers throughout the year and 108 awards have been won by 89 individual airports around the world.

Based on new hygiene related questions added to the survey questionnaire, ACI has introduced a new award – ‘Best Hygiene Measures by Region’ – of which there are 33 inaugural winners.

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ACI World believes that the new award provided airports with a reliable method of gauging customer response to new health measures and recognises airports’ success in responding to the intense focus on hygiene.

It also complements ACI’s Airport Health Accreditation programme, launched last year, which has resulted in more than 275 airports being accredited already.

“ACI’s Airport Service Quality awards represent the highest possible accolade for airport operators around the world,” enthuses ACI World director general, Luis Felipe de Oliveira.

“This year more than any other, the awards recognise those airports that have listened to their customers and adapted the services and experiences they offer to meet changing needs and expectations under very trying circumstances.

“I am proud of the achievements of all ASQ award winners which shows their focus on delivering excellence in customer experience and setting an example of excellence for their peers.

“As we come together as an industry to meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus on customers that the ASQ programme provides will help guide the way.”

This year, ACI World entered into a long-term partnership with global travel technology company Amadeus to deliver the ASQ Awards.

“We at Amadeus congratulate all the ASQ award winners for their ongoing commitment to delivering an exceptional customer experience in the face of adversity caused by COVID-19,” notes Bruno Spada, EVP, Airport IT,  Amadeus.

“Amadeus shares this commitment, which is why we’ve been investing for many years to bring an integrated platform for all aspects of passenger services to the airport industry, incorporating applications, hardware and services.

“With a modular cloud platform, airports can better connect to airlines to bring new passenger service innovations like biometrics or contactless to market.

“They can base operations on a consistent flow of data throughout the entire airport journey, which is the key to delivering a truly smooth experience for passengers. And they can do all this with minimal effort or delay because we’ve taken care of the complexity in the cloud.”

The ASQ Departures programme measures passengers’ satisfaction across 34 key performance indicators. More than half of the world’s travellers pass through an ASQ airport.

ACI adapted the rigorous quality control process for the ASQ awards programme to ensure the benchmarking and findings from the ASQ surveys remained of the highest quality during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Best Hygiene Measures by Region

AFRICA
Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport – Port Louis, Mauritius

ASIA-PACIFIC
Beijing Daxing International Airport – Beijing, China
Chandigarh Airport – Chandigarh, India
Depati Amir Airport – Pangkal Pinang, Indonesia
Husein Sastranegara Airport – Bandung, Indonesia
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport – Kolkata, India
Pune Airport – Pune, India
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport – Jakarta, Indonesia

EUROPE
Aeropuerto de Alicante-Elche – Alicante, Spain
Aeropuerto de Federico García Lorca Granada-Jaén – Granada, Spain
Aeropuerto de Menorca – Menorca, Spain
Aeropuerto de Pamplona – Pamplona, Spain
Aeropuerto Internacional Región de Murcia – Murcia, Spain
Aeropuerto Seve Ballesteros-Santander – Santander, Spain
Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport – Belgrade, Republic of Serbia
Faro Airport – Faro, Portugal
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport – Helsinki, Finland
Joao Paulo II Airport – Ponta Delgada, Portugal
Keflavik International Airport – Keflavik, Iceland
Madeira Airport – Madeira, Portugal
Porto Airport – Porto, Portugal
Skopje International Airport – Skopje, North Macedonia
Tallinn Airport – Tallinn, Estonia

LATIN AMERICA-CARIBBEAN
Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport – Liberia, Costa Rica
Punta Cana International Airport – Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

MIDDLE EAST
King Khalid International Airport – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Salalah Airport – Salalah, Oman

NORTH AMERICA
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport – Atlanta, United States of America
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport – New Orleans, United States of America
San Antonio International Airport – San Antonio, United States of America
Tampa International Airport – Tampa, United States of America
Toronto Pearson International Airport – Toronto, Canada
Victoria International Airport – Victoria, Canada

The full list of 2020 ASQ winners, including all of the Best Airport by Size & Region, can be viewed at 2020 – Current Winners – ASQ Awards – ACI World

The Airport Service Quality programme is the world’s leading airport customer experience measurement and benchmarking programme. The ASQ Departures programme measures passengers’ satisfaction across 34 key performance indicators. More than half of the world’s travellers pass through an ASQ airport.

ACI adapted the rigorous quality control process for the ASQ awards programme to ensure the benchmarking and findings from the ASQ surveys remained of the highest quality during the COVID-19 pandemic.