Nearly 800 delegates are gathering at iGA Istanbul Airport to examine hospitality, accessibility, workforce development and technology as passenger traffic continues to grow
Airports Council International World is holding its eighth Airport Experience Summit in Istanbul from 31 August to 4 September 2026.
- ACI World’s eighth Airport Experience Summit is taking place at iGA Istanbul Airport from 31 August to 4 September 2026.
- Nearly 800 delegates and more than 60 speakers are examining how airports can improve customer and employee experience as global passenger volumes expand.
- The programme covers hospitality, traveller stress, accessibility, wayfinding, local identity, workforce development and technology enablement.
- A gala on 2 September is set to recognise more than 100 top-performing airports through ACI’s ASQ Customer Experience Awards and Customer Experience Accreditation programme.
(NEWS) ISTANBUL, Türkiye, 2026-Sep-02 — /Travel PR News/ — Airports Council International World has brought airport executives, customer experience specialists and travel-sector leaders to Istanbul for a summit focused on a question becoming increasingly important as aviation grows: how can airports handle more passengers without making the journey feel more impersonal?
The eighth ACI World Airport Experience Summit, hosted by iGA Istanbul Airport from 31 August to 4 September 2026, is drawing nearly 800 delegates to Türkiye for five days of discussions, workshops and industry recognition. Under the theme “Airport Experience: The New Era,” the gathering puts hospitality, wellbeing and human-centred design alongside the operational and technology questions that traditionally dominate airport planning.
The shift in emphasis reflects a wider challenge facing the sector. ACI says global passenger traffic is forecast to nearly double over the next two decades, increasing pressure on airports to expand infrastructure while also improving how travellers experience increasingly busy terminals. Rather than treating customer experience as a finishing layer, the summit agenda examines how it can be built into operations, workplace culture and service delivery from the outset.
Justin Erbacci, director general of ACI World, said the industry still needs new infrastructure but argued that future airport investment must also respond more deliberately to human needs and wellbeing. He pointed to Istanbul as an appropriate setting for that discussion, describing iGA Istanbul Airport as an example of an airport where operational scale and passenger experience are being developed together.
From wayfinding to workforce culture
More than 60 speakers are scheduled across the summit, with sessions ranging from traveller stress reduction and accessibility to wayfinding, local cultural identity, employee experience and technology enablement. The programme also includes workshops drawing on expertise from Cirque du Soleil, whose chief of staff and strategy, Florent Bayle-Labouré, is delivering a keynote on creating emotional impact at scale.
The inclusion of employee experience is particularly significant. Airports increasingly depend on large networks of airlines, ground handlers, retailers, security teams, concessionaires and service partners, meaning a consistent passenger experience often depends on how effectively those organisations work together. A dedicated Talent & Growth Seminar will examine workforce development and how airport operators can build more resilient, high-performing teams.
Selahattin Bilgen, chief executive of iGA Istanbul Airport, said passenger experience remains central to the airport’s strategy as it serves travellers from around the world. He said understanding how passengers move, interact and feel throughout their journeys helps shape the way the airport designs and evolves its services.
Customer experience awards mark ASQ milestone
The summit also provides the setting for ACI’s annual customer experience recognition programme. A gala and awards ceremony on 2 September is set to honour more than 100 top-performing airports receiving ASQ Customer Experience Awards, as well as airports progressing through ACI’s Customer Experience Accreditation.
This year’s ceremony coincides with the 20th anniversary of ACI’s Airport Service Quality programme, which has become one of the airport industry’s principal benchmarks for passenger satisfaction. Its prominence at the Istanbul gathering underlines how customer-experience measurement is moving closer to the centre of airport management rather than remaining a purely marketing-led exercise.
For iGA Istanbul Airport, the event also reinforces its role as a major transfer hub and a showcase for large-scale airport development. ACI says the airport is the only one in Europe to have reached the highest level of its Customer Experience Accreditation programme, while the wider Istanbul Airport project is designed ultimately to accommodate up to 200 million passengers a year when all development phases are completed.
As airports prepare for another period of long-term traffic growth, the Istanbul summit suggests the industry’s next competitive battleground may be less about terminals as buildings and more about how smoothly, inclusively and memorably people move through them. For travellers, that could mean future airport investment is judged not only by capacity and efficiency, but increasingly by whether the journey itself feels easier.
