Incheon Int'l Airport Wins ASQ Award Again

N.E. Asia hub airport clinches the honor for 7 straight yrs. for its speedy arrival and departure procedures

The Incheon International Airport won the top Airport Service Quality Award for a seventh years in a row recently, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs announced on Feb. 14.
The ministry announced the news at the Trinity Forum of Airport Consulting International (ACI) at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Yongsan, Seoul, on Feb. 14. The airport has won the award every year since 2005.
The ASQ Award is presented every year based on the selection of the ACI whose members total 1,700 airports around the world. ACI picks the top winner of the coveted award based on the results of one-on-one interviews with some 350,000 air passengers on such matters as airport services, facilities, and management, among 34 criteria.
Second place went to Singapore International Airport, third place to Beijing International Airport, fourth place to Hong Kong International Airport, and fifth place to Nagoya International Airport.
The award ceremony is scheduled for May 24 in Singapore. Incheon International Airport was also selected as the top airport in the Asia-Pacific Region serving from 25 million to 40 million passengers every year and as the top airport in the category, winning awards in three areas.
Gimpo Airport also clinched the top airport award among airports handling between 15 million and 25 million passengers annually.
Ministry officials said the awards have reconfirmed the high international position for Korean airports, adding that it was the result of hard work by both the government and airport employees to make Incheon airport a hub airport of Northeast Asia by improving accessibility and arrival and departure services for passengers.
The Incheon airport reduced the departure process from 29 minutes in 2005 to 19 minutes in 2011 and the entry process to 10 minutes in 2011 from 20 minutes in 2005, faster by from 30 to 40 minutes than the internationally required times of 60 minutes for departure and 45 minutes for arrival.
Regional award winners were the Malta Airport for the European Region, the Ottawa Airport for the North American Region, the Cape Town Airport for the African Region, the Cancun Airport for the Latin American Region, and the Incheon Airport for the Asia-Pacific Region.
President Lee Chae-wook of the Incheon International Airport said most of the airports in the world have been unable to raise funds for investments and service improvements due to a shortage of income with various fees, including landing and cargo storage, at the airports remaining the same for the past 10 years. The importance of profits from duty-free shops, beverage sales, and other commercial businesses has been growing to replace airport income from various fees. He made the statement during his welcoming speech at the Trinity Forum jointly sponsored by the Incheon International Airport and the Moody Report of the ACI at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seoul.
Secretary General Angela Gittens of ACI said in her opening speech that non-aviation income has become a large source of income for airports around the world. The airports would have to prop up their income due to the reductions in the number of passengers and cargoes by diversifying their income sources. Today, she noted, non-aviation income has become an important factor for attracting investment in airports as parking lots, retail shops, and real estate have become important matters for reviving the business model for airports.
Gittens promised that ASQ Commercial Service will be included in the review of world airport services to reflect airport and commercial services standards. nw

(left) President Lee Chae-wook of Incheon Int'l Airport. (right) An inside view of Incheon Int'l Airport Terminal.