GMR Hyderabad International Airport Wins ACI ASQ Best Airport Awards for 2019

GMR led Hyderabad International Airport has emerged as the winner of the coveted Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Departures Awards by being adjudged as the ‘Best Airport by Size and Region’ and its first ever ‘Best Airport in Environment & Ambience by Size’, both in Asia-Pacific region for 2019, in its category of 15-25 Million Passengers Per Annum (MPPA). ASQ is the world’s leading airport passenger service and benchmarking programme measuring passengers’ satisfaction while they are travelling through an airport. The award trophy will be conferred during the ASQ Awards Ceremony to be held during the third ACI Customer Experience Global Summit, taking place in Krakow, Poland in September 2020.

Speaking on this recognition, Mr. SGK Kishore, CEO, GHIAL, said, “We feel honoured that our passengers have chosen us as the Best Airport in the annual ASQ survey 2019 conducted by ACI. This milestone echoes the rigour and teamwork of our stakeholders including DGCA, CISF, BCAS, AAI, Immigration, Customs, Airlines; our employees and all business partners / vendors, who are working at the airport towards a common goal to serve our customers. We are also thankful to the Ministry of Civil Aviation for their support. This award is testimony of our tireless efforts to make our passenger experience the best and our pursuit towards excellence.” 

Adding on, he stated “While we are expanding to build a future-ready airport doubling our capacity, we are also sensitive towards environment and the ambience of the airport. ACI has recognized this fact as well and honoured us with the Best Environment and Ambience by Size in our category. We have also recently been certified by ACI as a carbon neutral (Level 3+, neutrality) airport– a feat which we have achieved thrice in a row.”

In a personalized communication congratulating GMR Hyderabad International Airport, Ms. Angela Gittens, Director General, ACI World, said, “I am pleased to advise that Rajiv Gandhi International Airport has earned the 2019 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards for: Best Airport by Size and Region (15 to 25 million passengers per year in Asia-Pacific); Best Environment and Ambience by Size (15 to 25 million passengers per year in Asia-Pacific). Your customers have spoken and recognized the successful efforts of your team in providing a superior customer experience. Once again, my heartfelt thanks and warmest congratulations to you and your entire airport community. You make us proud.”

Through an ACI press release Ms. Angela Gittens, emphasized, “The Airport Service Quality Awards represent the highest possible recognition for airport operators around the world and recognize excellence in customer experience.”

As India’s first modern, Greenfield airport developed under PPP model, Hyderabad Airport has consistently raised the bar in terms of service and operational excellence. The airport has consistently ranked in Airports Council International (ACI) – Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Passenger Survey as among the Global Top 3 airports for 9 consecutive years (2009 to 2017) including World No. 1 position for 4 times in 2009, 2010, 2016 & 2017 in 5 – 15 MPPA category; it ranked World No. 4 in 2018 in 15 – 25 MPPA category. Recently, Hyderabad airport won the Best Regional Airport and the Best Airport Staff Service Awards, both in India / Central Asia category in the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2019. Hyderabad International Airport also featured as the world’s eighth best airport in AirHelp passenger survey score 2019 – the only Indian airport to feature among the top ten global airports.

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. In 2019, more than half of the world’s 8.8 billion travellers passed through an ASQ airport.

The ASQ programme applies a three-level quality funnel process combining remote and on-site auditing to review more than 150 unique check points to ensure ASQ data collection requirements are achieved by all participating airports. The quality check points ensure the benchmarking and findings from the ASQ departure survey remain of the highest quality.