Dubai, Abu Dhabi among top 3 airports in Middle East

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) passengers have rated Abu Dhabi and Dubai airports among the top three best airports in the Middle East for service quality in 2017, according to Airports Council International (ACI).

Releasedon Tuesday, the survey results showed that passengers rated Abu Dhabi Airport (AUH) first followed by Amman (AMM) and Madina (MED) (tied) and Dubai International (DXB) among the top three.

Moreover, Dubai International was also rated the "Most Improved Airport in the Middle East," revealed ACI survey.

"We made passenger journeys through the facility smoother by reducing waiting times - by deploying cutting edge technology to track and manage queues in real time, as well as by enabling the use of Emirates ID at smart gates for UAE residents. 2017 witnessed the launch of WOW-Fi, the world's fastest free airport Wi-Fi, followed by free streaming movies for our passengers through our partnership with ICFlix,"Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said recently.

In 2017, Dubai International (DXB) retained its position as the world's number one airport for international passengers for the fourth consecutive year with annual traffic last year reaching 88.2 million passengers.

The survey is part of ACI's Airport Services Quality (ASQ) Awards which survey passengers at the airport on their day of travel. The programme measures passengers' views of 34 key performance indicators. The survey cover top 100 busiest airports and interviews 600,000 individuals per year in 42 languages in 84 countries.

Worldwide

Mumbai scoops first place for airports in Asia-Pacific serving over 40 million passengers a year. In North America, this top spot goes to Toronto Pearson and in Europe to Rome Fiumicino.

This year an unprecedented 16 airports are first time winners, challenging best- in-class airports in the delivery of top-quality customer service. This phenomenon reflects the increasingly competitive airport industry operating environment, where continuous service improvement is a key ingredient in business performance. Airports make the customer experience a high priority.

First-time winners this year are: Rome Fiumicino (FCO), Newcastle (NCL), Athens (ATH), Zagreb (ZAG), Bandung (BDO), Indore (IDR), Ahmedabad (AMD), Casablanca (CMN), George (GRJ), Toronto Pearson (YYZ), San Jose (SJC), Cleveland (CLE), Los Cabos (SJD), Belo Horizonte (CNF) and Medina (MED).

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

Africa

First place:Casablanca (CMN) Second place:Mauritius (MRU) Third place: Durban (DUR)

Asia-Pacific

First place (tie): Delhi (DEL); Mumbai (BOM) Second place (tie): Beijing (PEK); Denpasar (DPS); Haikou (HAK); Shanghai Pudong (PVG) Third place: Sanya (SYX)

Europe

First place: Sochi (AER) Second place (tie): Malta (MLA); Moscow Sheremetyevo (SVO); Porto (OPO) Third place (tie): Rome Fiumicino (FCO); Zurich (ZRH)

Middle East

First place: Abu Dhabi (AUH) Second place (tie): Amman (AMM); Medina (MED) Third place: Dubai (DXB)

North America

First place (tie): Indianapolis (IND); Jacksonville (JAX) Second place (tie): El Paso (ELP); Ottawa (YOW); Toronto Billy Bishop (YTZ) Third place (tie): Austin (AUS); Columbus (CMH); Dallas Love Field (DAL); Halifax (YHZ); Pittsburgh (PIT); San Antonio (SAT); San Jose (SJC); Tampa (TPA)

Latin America-Caribbean

First place: Guayaquil (GYE) Second place: Los Cabos (SJD) Third place (tie): Nassau (NAS); Punta Cana (PUJ)

Best Airport by Size

2-5 million passengers per year

First place: Lucknow (LKO) Second place:Guayaquil(GYE) Third place: Bandung (BDO)

5-15 million passengers per year

First place: Hyderabad (HYD) Second place (tie): Balikpapan (BPN); Hohhot (HET) Third place: Cochin (COK); Kolkata (CCU); Pune (PNQ)

15-25 million passengers per year

First place (tie): Denpasar (DPS); Haikou (HAK); Sanya (SYX) Second place: Bangalore (BLR) Third place (tie): Chennai (MAA); Surabaya (SUB)

25-40 million passengers per year

First place: Chongqing (CKG) Second place: Seoul Gimpo (GMP) Third place: Tokyo Narita (NRT)

Over 40 million passengers per year

First place (tie): Delhi (DEL); Mumbai (BOM) Second place (tie): Beijing (PEK); Shanghai Pudong (PVG) Third place: Taipei Taoyuan (TPE)

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

Africa:George (GRJ) Europe: Murcia (MJV) North America: Portland Maine (PWM) Latin America-Caribbean: Mazatlan (MZT) Asia-Pacific: Indore (IDR)

Best Airport by Size and Region

Asia-Pacific

2-5 million passengers per year: Lucknow (LKO) 5-15 million passengers per year: Hyderabad (HYD) 15-25 million passengers per year: Denpasar (DPS) 25-40 million passengers per year: Chongqing (CKG) Over 40 million passengers per year: Mumbai (BOM)

Europe

2-5 million passengers per year: Newcastle (NCL) 5-15 million passengers per year: Sochi (AER) 15-25 million passengers per year: Athens (ATH) 25-40 million passengers per year: Moscow Sheremetyevo (SVO) Over 40 million passengers per year: Rome Fiumicino (FCO)

Latin America-Caribbean

2-5 million passengers per year: Guayaquil (GYE)

5-15 million passengers per year: Punta Cana (PUJ)

Middle East

5-15 million passengers per year: Medina (MED)

North America

2-5 million passengers per year: Ottawa (YOW) 5-15 million passengers per year: Indianapolis (IND) 15-25 million passengers per year: Tampa (TPA) 25-40 million passengers per year: Minneapolis (MSP) Over 40 million passengers per year: Toronto Pearson (YYZ)

Most Improved Airport by Region

Africa:Nairobi (NBO) Asia-Pacific:Ahmedabad (AMD) Europe:Zagreb (ZAG) Latin America-Caribbean:Belo Horizonte (CNF) Middle East:Dubai (DXB) North America:Cleveland (CLE)

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