The World’s Best Airports in Service Quality, as Selected by Passengers

Airports Council International (ACI) has announced the winners of its 2015 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards. The results may prove surprising.

The ASQ Awards are based on feedback from over 550,000 passenger surveys at over 300 airports in 80 countries around the world conducted last year.

The ASQ Survey covers 34 key service areas and 8 major categories including: access, check-in, security, airport facilities, food and beverage, retail and others.

The surveys are conducted following an industry standard set by the airports association, with a prescribed set of questions and set of responses, which allows an equitable comparison and the establishing of performance benchmarks.

“All participating airports can view the ASQ survey results of all other participating airports on a confidential basis,” the association states.

Based on these parameters, the ASQ Award winners are recognized by ACI as world’s “best in class” for passenger experience.

“Airports’ increasing concentration on ensuring a stellar passenger experience is part of a larger trend,” says Angela Gittens, Director General, ACI World. “Airports have evolved into complex, customer-focused businesses in their own right that in many cases are in competition with each other for passenger traffic. From duty free and restaurants to ambience, cleanliness, courtesy of staff, amenities, efficiency and more, air travelers are expecting big things from the airports through which they travel. More than anything, ASQ is a way for participants to measure the extent to which they deliver on these expectations.”

This year, the awards have introduced a new category, measuring Best Airport by both size and region. These awards are only available to regions with a minimum of five qualifying airports.

The winners in this new category are Seoul Incheon Airport in Asia-Pacific, which serves over 40 million passengers a year, London Heathrow in Europe also serving over 40 million passengers a year, and Indianapolis airport in North America serving five-15 million passengers per year.

A detailed list of winners follows:

Best Airport by Region (over 2 million passengers per year)

Africa

• First place: Mauritius
• Second place (tie): Cape Town; Durban
• Third place: Johannesburg

Asia-Pacific

• First place (tie): Seoul Incheon; Singapore
• Second place (tie): Beijing; Mumbai; New Delhi; Sanya Phoenix; Shanghai Pudong
• Third place (tie): Guangzhou Baiyun; Taiwan Taoyuan; Tianjin Binhai

Europe

• First place (tie): Moscow Sheremetyevo; Pulkovo; Sochi
• Second place (tie): Dublin; Malta; Prague; Zurich
• Third place (tie): Copenhagen; Keflavik; London Heathrow; Porto; Vienna

Middle East

• First place: Amman
• Second place (tie): Abu Dhabi; Doha
• Third place (tie): Dammam; Dubai; Tel Aviv

North America

• First place: Indianapolis
• Second place (tie): Dallas Love Field; Grand Rapids; Jacksonville; Ottawa; Tampa
• Third place (tie): Austin; Detroit; Sacramento; San Antonio; Toronto Billy Bishop

Latin America-Caribbean

• First place: Guayaquil
• Second place: Quito
• Third place: Punta Cana

Best Airport by Size

2–5 million passengers per year

• First place: Jaipur
• Second place: Lucknow
• Third place: Guayaquil

5–15 million passengers per year

• First place: Sanya Phoenix
• Second place: Tianjin Binhai
• Third place: Hyderabad

15–25 million passengers per year

• First place: Seoul Gimpo
• Second place: Wuhan
• Third place: Denpasar

25–40 million passengers per year

• First place (tie): Mumbai; New Delhi
• Second place: Taiwan Taoyuan
• Third place: Shanghai Hongqiao

Over 40 million passengers per year

• First place (tie): Seoul Incheon; Singapore
• Second place (tie): Beijing; Shanghai Pudong
• Third place: Guangzhou Baiyun

Best Airport by Region (under 2 million passengers per year)

• Africa: Upington
• Europe: Skopje
• North America: Portland
• Latin America-Caribbean: Culiacan

Best Airport by Size and Region (new category)

Asia-Pacific

• 2–5 million passengers per year: Jaipur
• 5–15 million passengers per year: Sanya Phoenix
• 15–25 million passengers per year: Seoul Gimpo
• 25–40 million passengers per year: New Delhi
• Over 40 million passengers per year: Seoul Incheon

Europe

• 2–5 million passengers per year: Sochi
• 5–15 million passengers per year: Pulkovo
• 15–25 million passengers per year: Dublin
• 25–40 million passengers per year: Moscow Sheremetyevo
• Over 40 million passengers per year: London Heathrow

North America

• 2–5 million passengers per year: Grand Rapids
• 5–15 million passengers per year: Indianapolis

Most Improved Airport

• Africa: Nairobi
• Asia-Pacific: Denpasar
• Europe: Istanbul
• Latin America-Caribbean: Kingston
• Middle East: Dammam
• North America: Saskatoon