Incheon Airport has been voted ‘Best Airport in Asia Pacific’ and ‘Best Airport – 25-40m passengers’ categories in last year’s ACI ASQ Survey.

This is the ninth year in a row that the airport has won these awards organised by the Airports Council International (ACI) which represents 1,847 airports across the world. The voting results were collected from ‘face-to-face interviews with 350,000 international passengers’ at airports around the world during 2013.

Last year, Incheon was ahead of Singapore Changi and Beijing in the Best Airport in Asia-Pacific category and led New Delhi and Taipei in the 25 to 40m passenger category.

Incheon CEO & President Jung Chang-soo said: “The successful achievement of Incheon Airport was only possible with the full confidence and support from the government, as well as the united efforts of over 40,000 staff and workers at the Airport.”

Incheon Airport originally won its first ASQ awards in 2001 after just four years of opening. In 2011, it also became the first airport to be recognized as a member of the ‘Roll of Excellence’ programme as ‘the most outstanding airport in the world’ and the airport that upgraded the service levels of the world’s airports.

 

 

TENDERS AND A NEW SECOND TERMINAL…
Last September Incheon commenced the third-phase construction of its second passenger terminal which it hopes will become part of a global mega hub to expand Incheon’s passenger handling capacity to 62m ahead of the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.

Just to add to its burgeoning trophy cabinet, Incheon Airport won the ‘World’s Best Duty-free Shop’ award from Business Traveler magazine for the fourth year in a row in 2013.

This was presented to the airport at a special ceremony held in Los Angeles last month. Incheon Airport said in a statement that  winning the title in the magazine’s US edition was ‘all the more meaningful’ since it accounts for some 40% of the magazine’s world circulation. [Nearly 40,000 readers of the US edition were said to have participated in the survey-Ed].

The airport was highly recognized with its optimized shopping area considering passenger flow and convenience. Also, the airport reflected the emerging trend, Korean wave (Hallyu), attracting more people with differentiated goods and services, giving them a chance to experience Korean culture within the shopping area.

Incheon management is promising that its second terminal opening in 2017 will raise the commercial bar even further, although it has to hold its international tender programme first, which is expected to call for expressions of interest from international as well as local retailers this spring/summer.