Schiphol wins ACI Best Airport Award

Nicole Mezzasalma

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Copenhagen Kastrup, Birmingham International, Sagat Turin and Pogdorica International also honoured

Amsterdam Schiphol airport has won the Best Airport Award in the over 25m passenger category at the Airports Council International (ACI) Europe Best Airports Awards 2007, announced in Zurich. The judging panel praised the airport’s “constant research for innovative and creative solutions; its work in the development of highly novel systems to simplify passenger operations and improve the customer’s experience while also recognising its environmental responsibilities and maintaining good relations with the local community”.

Schiphol Group executive vice president and CEO Ad Rutten said: "[This award] illustrates that Schiphol is an innovative airport and highlights that we focus on more than just passengers and airlines. We also focus on the community and our environment."

Copenhagen Kastrup airport was voted best airport in the 10-25 million passenger category. The judging panel described it as “being proactive in taking steps to deal with extra pressure expected to come from increasing passenger growth in the coming years and its approach to the challenge of optimising capacity. The airport is also recognised for its particularly good management of the inherent contradictions between dealing with passengers in a speedy manner while doing so effectively.”

The winner of the 5-10m passenger category was Birmingham International airport, which according to the judges “is a classic example of an airport that has made outstanding efforts to actively sustain relationships with the local community and gain support for the airport expansion while minimising its environmental impact”.

Sagat Turin airport’s good handling of the 2006 Winter Olympics was rewarded with the award for the 1-5m passenger category, and Montenegro’s Pogdorica International airport won the under 1m passenger prize on the basis of “its remarkable and fast evolution from a ‘non-existing’ infrastructure to an airport that can compete with international standards in an impressively short amount of time”.