London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5, home of British Airways, has been voted the World’s Best Airport Terminal by airline travellers at the 2012 World Airport Awards, media reported in May.
Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) won the Best Airport Immigration Service award, while Narita International Airport won the Best Airport Security Processing award.
The independent World Airport Awards is the most prestigious recognition of quality for airports, based on the annual Skytrax airport customer survey, which covers 388 airports.
Vishal Sinha, British Airways regional general manager for Japan and Korea, told ACUMEN: “It’s wonderful to see Terminal 5 being recognised as the world’s best airport terminal. The award really contributes to our brand promise of providing world-class customer service. Over the next five years, British Airways will be investing more than £5bn in new aircraft, smarter cabins, elegant lounges, and new technologies to make life more comfortable in the air and on the ground”.
According to the organisers, Terminal 5, which opened in March 2008, has “… become a firm favourite with passengers. The architecture, ambience and terminal layout were repeatedly mentioned in the survey feedback, as well as the extensive range of shopping and dining options in the departures area”.
Spacious and light with a modern yet practical design, London Heathrow Terminal 5 is a state-of-the-art building exclusive to customers of British Airways and its sister airline Iberia.
Customers at Narita International Airport “were particularly impressed with the quality of the service and courtesy of the staff, as well as the organisation of security processing”, the awards organisers said. Meanwhile, Tokyo Haneda rose several places in the global ranking.
The survey evaluates the total passenger experience across 39 airport service and product features, from arrival, through transit and departure processes and on to the boarding gate.
