Incheon Airport in South Korea has become the first airport in the world to reach the new Level 4 in Airports Council International (ACI) World’s Airport Customer Experience Accreditation program.
Incheon – one of a few Level 3-accredited airports in 2020 – joined the piloting phase of Level 4 accreditation to contribute to its development, and was awarded Level 4 accreditation following a virtual site verification by ACI World.
Incheon Airport president and CEO, Kyung Wook Kim, said, “We are proud to be recognized as the first Level 4-accredited airport in the world, and it is our honor to participate and contribute to the development of the Level 4 – Airport Customer Experience Accreditation program. The program provides a true 360° view of airport customer experience management. Incheon will continue to improve its best-in-class customer experience by providing a new and pleasant experience to customers and by adopting advanced technologies in all areas of airport operations based on innovative thinking.”
ACI World director general, Luis Felipe de Oliveira, added, “Incheon already has a strong record in customer experience management, and we were grateful for their participation in the pilot of Level 4 of the Airport Customer Experience Accreditation program. As the aviation industry continues to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic and prepares to support a sustained recovery, meeting the changing needs and expectations of customers will be ever more important and we congratulate Incheon on being the first airport in the world to achieve this level of accreditation.”
The accreditation program, which offers a common definition and framework for customer experience management, helps airports assess and improve their approach to customer experience management and identify new practices that can be developed in the short and long term to progress through the levels of accreditation. Accreditation at each level also serves as a powerful marketing tool for airports to show their commitment to improving customer experience.
The program is designed with five levels of accreditation and the pilot phase of the final level – Level 5 – is expected in 2022.
