Mumbai, Delhi judged ‘World’s Best Airport’

Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, operated and managed by GVK, along with Delhi’s IGI Airport, operated by GMR, have been jointly adjudged the ‘World’s Best Airport’ for customer experience.

The airports won the top honours in the 40 mppa (million passengers per annum) category. They were followed by Beijing and Shanghai Pudong, both of which were ranked second.

The results were announced by Airports Council International (ACI), a trade association of 1,953 airports in 176 countries, on Tuesday.

The award was adjudicated by means of ACI’s Airport Service Quality survey, conducted among millions of passengers. They were surveyed across international airports for their feedback on 34 key performance indicators.

The indicators included specifics like parking facilities, waiting time in queue, efficiency of check-in, courtesy and helpfulness of airport staff, shopping facilities, internet access, cleanliness of washrooms, ambiance, speed of baggage delivery among others.

GVK Reddy, Founder and Chairman, GVK said the award was a testament to the quality of service.

“In 2007, when we had taken over the complete operations of the airport, the ASQ score was 3.53 and in ten years we have got it to hover around 4.99 out of a maximum 5. It is a testimony to the quality service provided in 2017 to over 46 million travellers by the 30,000-odd airport community members,” Reddy said.

Srinivas Bommidala, Chairman-Airports, GMR Group in a statement said, “This is a recognition of the collaborative work of all stakeholders in IGIA. ”

Meanwhile, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, which is run by the GMR Group, won the customer experience award in the 5-15 mppa category.

The 10-year-old airport, which has consistently been ranked among the top three airports, clinched the award for the fourth time.