Asia’s airports rule the world
GENEVA – It’s been another good year for Asia’s leading airports.
Seoul’s Incheon heads the list of leading airports for the fifth year in a row, having topped the Geneva-based Airports Council International’s annual Airport Service Quality survey.
Singapore’s Changi was second in 2009 and Hong Kong third, both also for the second year in a row.
Two newcomers – Beijing and India’s Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi International – moved into fourth and fifth place, edging out Nagoya-Central Japan International and Canada’s Halifax, Nova Scotia who held those places in 2008.
“All (these airports) have learned to focus on key performance factors that their passengers appreciate,” said ACI director general Angela Gittins.
“All demonstrate that they fully understand that what pleases a passenger today becomes tomorrow’s expectation, and that to stay at the top, an airport must continuously refresh its offer and introduce new innovations that continue to delight the passenger on subsequent trips.â€
Australian airports failed to rank in the top five of any category, including the Asia-Pacific region rankings and rankings by size of airport (based on number of passengers).
The ACI survey is based on regular monthly questionnaires filled in by passengers passing through more than 100 leading world airports in some 45 countries.
By the traffic size categories, first place recognition was won by Halifax, Canada (under 5 million), Hyderabad, India (5-15 million), Baltimore/Washington, USA (15-25 million), Seoul Incheon, South Korea (25-40 million) and Hong Kong, China (over 40 million).
Best Improvement Award winners by region were Cairo (Africa), New Delhi (Asia Pacific), Ponta Delgada (Europe), Cancun (Latin America-Caribbean), Abu Dhabi (Middle East) and Cleveland (North America).
Ian Jarrett
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