Heathrow named ‘Best European Airport’
Heathrow has been named ‘Europe’s Best Airport’ at the ACI’s 9th annual Airport Awards, adding to other highly coveted global awards received earlier this year for ‘Best Airport Shopping’ and ‘Best Airport Terminal’ for Terminal 5.
The award, in the over 25 million passengers category and shared jointly with Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, reflects the £11 billion invested in Heathrow since 2003. The airport’s transformation includes the opening of Terminal 5, the redevelopment of Terminals 1 and 3 and a new check in area and forecourt at Terminal 4. Together, these developments have helped increase the number of passengers rating their journey as ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’ from 48% in 2007 to 77% today.
Heathrow’s achievements in customer service, facilities, retail, security, community relations, environmental awareness and operations were all recognised at the awards, held in Istanbul. The judges highlighted the delivery of excellent services and facilities as well as the airport’s consistent commitment to corporate responsibility.
Colin Matthews, CEO of Heathrow, says: ‘We are delighted to receive this award, which reflects the £11bn that has been invested in Heathrow over the last decade, along with the effort of thousands of people working at the airport to improve the passenger experience. There is always more to be done and we are working on many ways to make every journey better, such as staff training, new technology and the opening of Terminal 2 in 2014.’
The award follows Heathrow’s success in April at the World Airport Awards where it was named ‘Best Airport for Shopping’ and Terminal 5 was named ‘Best Airport Terminal’ in the world for a second year. In the same month, Heathrow was awarded the highest rating – the ‘Platinum Big Tick’ – in Business in the Community’s annual benchmark of responsible business management, the Corporate Responsibility Index. It is the only airport, and the only transport service business to be included in the top category, which was awarded to just 31 UK businesses this year.
The ACI award comes just days after Heathrow announced the ‘one year to go’ milestone for the opening of the brand new £2.5billion Terminal 2. The spacious, light and airy terminal will use the latest technology, offering passengers greater choice when travelling through the airport and ensuring that around two thirds of Heathrow’s 70million passengers each year will experience the airport’s world class facilities.
