Durban - The King Shaka International Airport has scooped this year's award for Best Regional Airport in Africa and Best Airport Staff in Africa serving 5 to10 million passengers.
This is the tenth time that the airport has secured this accolade and the second consecutive year and the third time in four years that has come out on top in the service category. Cape Town International Airport was runner-up in the staff service category. KSIA also celebrates its 10th birthday this year.
The World Airport Awards are the most prestigious accolades for the airport industry, voted by customers in the largest, annual global airport customer satisfaction survey.
Mpumi Mpofu, Airports Company South Africa’s CEO, said these accolades affirmed the importance placed on quality across every dimension of the passenger’s airport experience.
"We are delighted to be recognised and especially proud that the awards reflect the continuing dedication and efforts of airport staff. We are still in the early stages of what is going to be an exceptionally challenging time for the entire value chain in the aviation sector. These awards show that as a company we have the right approach and the right staff to deliver a safe and secure airport experience in the months ahead,” he said.
The World Airport Awards are regarded as the quality benchmark for the world airport industry, assessing customer service and facilities across over 550 airports around the world.
The survey and awards are independent of any airport control or input and are based on the World Airport Survey questionnaires completed by over 100 nationalities of airport customers during the six-month survey period. The survey evaluated the customer experience across airport service and product key performance indicators from check-in, arrivals, transfers, shopping, security and immigration through to departure at the gate.
Cape Town International Airport bagged the Best Airport in Africa, as voted for by air travellers. This is the fifth consecutive year that the Cape Town International Airport secured this award and the airport has over the past several years been recognised on multiple occasions in the awards.