Visit VIP lounges in the world’s top airports
April 2010
Airports Council International (ACI) has completed its annual survey of airport service quality and the top awards for best airports worldwide have gone to airports in the Asia-Pacific region. Seoul Incheon International Airport ranked best for the fifth year running. How did other airports do?
ACI named the top performing airports for 2009 for each of the six regional categories and five traffic size categories (see table below). It also announced the best improved airports in each region, recognizing those airports having made the most progress in improving service quality.
In its press release, ACI identified ten factors as essential for high customer service. They are, by order of importance: the ambience of the airport, cleanliness of the terminal, comfort of the waiting areas, availability of washrooms, cleanliness of washrooms, courtesy and helpfulness of the airport staff, VIP lounges, ease of making connections, passport/ID inspection experience and good shopping facilities.
Here is how the airports ranked:
Best airports – worldwide:
- Incheon (ICN)
- Singapore (SIN)
- Hong Kong (HKG)
- Beijing (PEK)
- Hyderabad (HYD)
Best improved by region:
- Africa – Cairo (CAI)
- Asia-Pacific – New Delhi (DEL)
- Europe – Ponta Delgada (PDL)
- Latin America/Caribbean – Cancún (CUN)
- Middle East – Abu Dhabi (AUH)
- North America – Cleveland (CLE)
Top five by region:
| Africa | Asia-Pacific | Europe |
| 1) George (GRJ) | 1) Incheon (ICN) | 1) Keflavik (KEF) |
| 2) Johannesburg (JNB) | 2) Singapore (SIN) | 2) Zurich (ZRH) |
| 3) Cairo (CAI) | 3) Hong Kong (HKG) | 3) Porto (OPO) |
| 4) Port Elizabeth (PLZ) | 4) Beijing (PEK) | 4) Malta (MLA) |
| 5) Durban (DUR) | 5) Hyderabad (HYD) | 5) Southampton (SOU) |
| Latin America/Caribbean | Middle East | North America |
| 1) Cancun (CUN) | 1) Tel Aviv (TLV) | 1) Austin (AUS) |
| 2) Guayaquil (GYE) | 2) Dubai (DXB) | 2) Halifax (YHZ) |
| 3) Barbados (BGI) | 3) Abu Dhabi (AUH) | 3) Ottawa (YOW) |
| 4) Mexico City (MEX) | 4) Doha (DOH) | 4) Jacksonville (JAX) |
| 5) Montego Bay (MBJ) | 5) Muscat (MCT) | 5) Portland (PWM) |
Source: Airports Council International
Access VIP lounges in some of the world’s best airports
With over 600 airport VIP lounges worldwide, Priority Pass is pleased to offer its’ members lounge access in the majority of the airports recognised by ACI above. Finding details of lounges located in these world-class airports couldn’t be easier:
- Visit www.prioritypass.com - use the ‘Find your lounge’ feature on the Priority Pass website. Or if you’re accessing the web from your mobile phone go to www.prioritypass.com/mobile
- Refer to your Lounge Directory – if you don’t have it to hand simply login in to the Priority Pass website to download the very latest listing to your PC, PDA, Blackberry or Palm
- Use our clever iPhone app – free to download from the iTunes app store it uses GPS technology to locate your nearest lounge or if you’re planning a future trip you can simply scroll through a list of all the lounges available to you as a Priority Pass member
- Text the three letter airport code to our SMS Lounge Finder service on +44 7624 809 977