Hamad International Airport named the ‘Best Airport in the Middle East’ and 5th best airport in the world at the SKYTRAX World Airport Awards 2018

DOHA, Qatar, 2018-Mar-23 — /Travel PR News/ — Hamad International Airport has been ranked the 5th best airport in the world at the SKYTRAX World Airport Awards 2018, which took place during the Passenger Terminal Expo 2018 in Stockholm, Sweden. HIA has also been honoured with the title of ‘Best Airport in the Middle East’ for the fourth year in a row and ‘Best Staff Service in the Middle East’ for the third year in a row.

The award recognises HIA’s innovative facilities, five-star customer service and state-of-the-art terminal which can accommodate more than 30 million passengers annually. The terminal has been described as the most architecturally significant terminal complex in the world, as well as being the most luxurious.

Commenting on the results of the Skytrax World Airport Awards, Engr. Badr Mohammed Al Meer, Chief Operating Officer at Hamad International Airport stated: “HIA sets itself apart from other airports with its optimised passenger journey, unmatched retail offering, five-star customer service, punctuality, cleanliness, iconic architecture and unique art programme, making the airport a destination on its own. These Skytrax results mark yet another milestone in HIA’s journey in solidifying its position as one of the world’s best airports. We are grateful to our passengers who gave us their trust and endorsement during the voting process.

Mr. Al Meer continued: “In spite of the challenging situation in the region, HIA succeeded in proving its resiliency by maintaining 5 Star passenger’ experience, and smooth operations.

As we are gearing up to welcome more than 50 million travellers by 2022, we will continue to invest in our facilities, services and the newest technologies to provide a world-class passenger experience.”

The Skytrax World Airport Awards are a global benchmark of airport excellence, based on 12.85 million customer nominations across 110 nationalities of air travellers, and include 410 airports worldwide. The survey evaluates customer satisfaction across 39 key performance indicators for airport service and product – from check-in, arrivals, transfers, shopping, security and immigration, through to departure at the gate.

The Passenger Terminal Expo & Conference is the world’s largest annual airport exhibition and a major  international airport networking event of the year, gathering 7,000+ C-Suite, managers, opinion leaders, government officials and experts, in the aviation, airlines and airport industry, travelling from all over the world to discuss the most pressing issues, goals and solutions about the airport industry, with a particular focus on the airport terminal.

In parallel to the awards, a number of HIA representatives gave a series of addresses on the airport’s operational excellence, HIA Smart Airport Programme, as well as how HIA is investing in cutting-edge technology to constantly improve the passenger experience while complying to global security and safety standards.

While Ioannis Metsovitis, HIA Vice President Operations, shed light on how the airport is rolling out A-CDM with a great success, Philip Bamber, HIA Assistant VP Airport Security gave a presentation on HIA’s integrated passenger screening and landside security programme. Sujata Suri, HIA Vice President Strategy & Customer Experience, chaired the panel discussion on customer service and passenger experience and will share insights on the changing needs of passengers in the last decade and how it impacted the airport business development strategy now focused on maximising commercial revenues through improved customer experience.

Qatar’s award-winning airport is considered a thought leader in the industry, with its leaders sharing innovative ideas, successful case studies and best practices, in order to shape the future of the aviation sector and to addresses airport and airline business-critical issues.

SOURCE: Hamad International Airport

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