OR Tambo only third best airport in Africa

OR Tambo International Airport was pipped to the post by three other airports in the annual Airports Council International’s (ACI) 2015 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards.

In the category best airport by region (over two million passengers a year) – Africa, OR Tambo picked up third place with Mauritius being the winner. Cape Town International Airport and King Shaka International Airport tied for second place in this category.

Upington Airport achieved top honours with first place in the best airport by region – Africa (under two million passengers a year) category.

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The ASQ Awards are based on over 550 000 in-depth passenger surveys at over 300 airports across more than 80 countries worldwide during the course of last year. The 2015 results represent the world’s best-in-class airports regarding improvements in the customer experience, appraised by passengers while they are travelling so the experience is fresh in their minds.

The ASQ Survey covers 34 key service areas and includes eight major categories such as access, check-in, security, airport facilities, food and beverage and retail to name just some. All participating airports use the same survey questions, creating an industry standard set of responses where they can track and analyse their performance, as well as benchmark results against other airports across the globe.

Airport Company South Africa’s CEO, Bongani Maseko, said the awards were recognition of the commitment by the company’s staff to ensure they constantly provide the best possible levels of service to the many passengers who use their airports.

Maseko said Airports Company South Africa is constantly looking at new ways to enhance the quality of its service and bringing new innovations to the market to improve passengers’ experiences of its nine airports.

“One of the key innovations we recently introduced to passengers was the launch of the Airports Application (Airports App). The system was designed and developed in response to passengers’ need for a convenient and unrestricted means of connecting to the information they require.

“With the introduction of the Airports App, we intend to remain relevant and accessible as we seek to continue making improvements to our passengers’ service offering.”