The Airports Councils International (ACI) named Incheon Airport as the Best Airport Worldwide for the 7th year in a row during the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) award ceremony held at Universal Studios, Singapore, on May 24th.

The selection of the winner of the ASQ award, which is considered the ‘Nobel Prize of the aviation industry’, was based on the survey results from direct interviews with 350 thousand global passengers throughout the year of 2011 using a questionnaire containing 34 key performance indicators. These encompassed 7 service areas, 27 facilities, as well as airport operation. Not only has the Airport won the Best Airport Worldwide award 7 years in a row, it has also been named top in both its region (Asia-Pacific), and its traffic size (25-50 million) categories. This means that Incheon has been awarded top titles in all categories it has entered for the last 7 years.

Among the awards, Best Airport Worldwide is given to the best performing airports out of more than 1,700 worldwide across location and traffic size. In the history of the award, Incheon Airport is the only entrant to receive the top honor for 7 consecutive years (from 2005 to 2011.)

Notably, Incheon Airport was almost awarded a perfect score - 4.95 out of 5.00, demonstrating the overwhelming competence of the World’s Best Airport and leaving behind its European competitors as well as fast expanding Chinese airports.

Apart from this award, Incheon Airport was also recently named as the ‘2012 World Best Airport’ by SKYTRAX, a UK based research company specializing in the air transport industry, and also won the ‘Best Airport in the World’ title from the US based travel magazine Global Traveler for the 6th year in a row. Making a grand slam in Airport Services Evaluation by winning all of these awards, Incheon Airport now attempts to solidify its groundwork by continuing to be one of the leading airports in the world, and at the same time elevating the national prestige of Korea.

11 years after its opening in 2001, Incheon Airport has now emerged as one of the best airports in the world owing to its strong commitment to the very fundamental values that are expected of airports, such as Cleanliness, Fast Service, Convenience and Safety. Moreover, the airport’s continuous efforts in providing cultural opportunities for visitors make Incheon Airport stand out among competitors.

Also, the Airport has introduced a statistics-based ‘Passenger Traffic Forecast’ system. The first of its kind in the world to minimize passenger waiting time, and has been providing valuable support for timely immigration procedures through use of the IT and BT technology-based U-Airport system.

Going forward, the Airport is committed to becoming a ‘Cultureport’ by running cultural and artistic programs and operating cultural facilities such as museums and traditional culture workshops. The airport is also equipped with a globally renowned duty free shopping section whose fame was recently proved by Louis Vuitton’s decision to open its first airport shop at Incheon. All of these efforts have drawn more than 6,000 staff and officials from all over the world to seek learning opportunities since the airport’s opening in 2001.

On receiving the award, President and CEO of the Airport, CW. Lee commented, “Our focus has been to build an airport that is safe, convenient, clean and fast based upon close cooperation with the various resident agencies and contractors. And at the same time introducing the concept of ‘Culture’ by operating the airport in ways that differentiate ourselves from others.” He also added that, “The honor should be attributed to the 35 thousand staff working at the Airport, who have made continuous efforts in service innovation with the full support of the central government including the Ministry of Land, Transport, and Maritime Affairs.”