Doha's HIA Ranks Joint Second in 2015 Airports Awards

Montreal, March 01 (QNA) - Qatar's Hamad International Airport (Doha) ranks joint second with Abu Dhabi International Airport in the Best Airport Middle East category of winners of the 2015 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards announced Tuesday by Airports Council International (ACI). Jordan's Queen Alia International Airport in capital city Amman won the first place in the Middle East category while Saudi Arabia's King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, Dubai International Airport and Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport came joint third. The ACI Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards is the worlds premier passenger service benchmarking programme for airports. ASQ completed over 550,000 in-depth passenger surveys at over 300 airports across more than 80 countries worldwide last year. The 2015 results represent the worlds best in class airports where improving the customer experience is concerned-appraised by passengers while they are traveling and the experience is fresh in their minds. Commenting on 2015 awards, ACI World Director General Angela Gittens said, "Airports' increasing concentration on ensuring a stellar passenger experience is part of a larger trend. Airports have evolved into complex, customer-focused businesses in their own right that in many cases are in competition with each other for passenger traffic. "From duty free and restaurants to ambience, cleanliness, courtesy of staff, amenities, efficiency and more, air travellers are expecting big things from the airports through which they travel. More than anything, ASQ is a way for participants to measure the extent to which they deliver on these expectations." The 2015 results have been expanded to include a new category (Best Airport by Size and Region) and more robust winners lists (several airports have tied in their respective categories). ASQ has statistically validated the winners to ensure accuracy; as such, a tie indicates that no statistical difference has been found between the scores of two or more airports. Furthermore, the Best Airport by Size and Region category is only applicable to size categories that contain a minimum five qualifying airports. From Asia-Pacific region South Korea's Incheon International Airport and Singapore's Changi International Airport tied for the first place. Five airports Beijing; Mumbai; New Delhi; Sanya Phoenix; Shanghai Pudong tied for the second place and three for the third place - Guangzhou Baiyun; Taiwan Taoyuan; Tianjin Binhai. Indianapolis International Airport won the first place from North America region. From Europe three Russian airports tied for the first place - Sheremetyevo International Airport located in Khimki, Moscow Oblast; Pulkovo International Airport in Saint Petersburg; and Sochi International Airport located in Adler District. The worlds top airports for passenger service in 2015, as chosen by the worlds travellers, are:- Best Airport by Region (over 2 million passengers per year) Africa: First place: Mauritius; Second place (tie): Cape Town; Durban; Third place: Johannesburg. Asia-Pacific: First place (tie): Seoul Incheon; Singapore. Second place (tie): Beijing; Mumbai; New Delhi; Sanya Phoenix; Shanghai Pudong. Third place (tie): Guangzhou Baiyun; Taiwan Taoyuan; Tianjin Binhai. Europe: First place (tie): Moscow Sheremetyevo; Pulkovo; Sochi. Second place (tie): Dublin; Malta; Prague; Zurich. Third place (tie): Copenhagen; Keflavik; London Heathrow; Porto; Vienna. Middle East: First place: Amman. Second place (tie): Abu Dhabi; HIA Doha. Third place (tie): Dammam; Dubai; Tel Aviv. North America: First place: Indianapolis. Second place (tie): Dallas Love Field; Grand Rapids; Jacksonville; Ottawa; Tampa. Third place (tie): Austin; Detroit; Sacramento; San Antonio; Toronto Billy Bishop. Latin America-Caribbean: First place: Guayaquil. Second place: Quito. Third place: Punta Cana. Best Airport by Size (25 million passengers per year) First place: Jaipur, India. Second place: Lucknow, India. Third place: Guayaquil, Ecuador. 515 million passengers per year: First place: Sanya Phoenix. Second place: Tianjin Binhai. Third place: Hyderabad, India. 1525 million passengers per year: First place: Seoul Gimpo. Second place: Wuhan, China. Third place: Denpasar, Indonesia. 2540 million passengers per year: First place (tie): Mumbai; New Delhi. Second place: Taiwan Taoyuan. Third place: Shanghai Hongqiao. Over 40 million passengers per year: First place (tie): Seoul Incheon; Singapore. Second place (tie): Beijing; Shanghai Pudong Third place: Guangzhou Baiyun. Best Airport by Region (under 2 million passengers per year) Africa: Upington. Europe: Skopje. North America: Portland. Latin America-Caribbean: Culiacan Best Airport by Size and Region (new category) Asia-Pacific: 25 million passengers per year: Jaipur. 515 million passengers per year: Sanya Phoenix. 1525 million passengers per year: Seoul Gimpo. 2540 million passengers per year: New Delhi. Over 40 million passengers per year: Seoul Incheon Europe: 25 million passengers per year: Sochi. 515 million passengers per year: Pulkovo. 1525 million passengers per year: Dublin. 2540 million passengers per year: Moscow Sheremetyevo. Over 40 million passengers per year: London Heathrow. North America: 25 million passengers per year: Grand Rapids. 515 million passengers per year: Indianapolis. Most Improved Airport Africa: Nairobi. Asia-Pacific: Denpasar. Europe: Istanbul. Latin America-Caribbean: Kingston. Middle East: Dammam. North America: Saskatoon. (END)