Despite travel bans and restrictions, two SA airports have come out at the top at the 2020 Skytrax World Airport Awards.
Cape Town International Airport in Cape Town and King Shaka International Airport in Durban have been named Africa’s best in the 2020 Skytrax World Airport Awards.
The World Airport Awards are regarded as the quality benchmark for the world airport industry, assessing customer service and facilities across over 550 airports around the world. The survey is based on the World Airport Survey questionnaires completed by over 100 nationalities of airport customers during the six-month survey period.
Air travellers voted Cape Town International Airport the Best Airport in Africa. This is the fifth consecutive year that Cape Town International Airport secured this award, and the airport has over the past several years been recognised on multiple occasions in the awards.
King Shaka International Airport, which marked its 10th anniversary on May 1, won this year’s award for Best Regional Airport in Africa and Best Airport Staff in Africa. The airport serves around 5 to 10 million passengers. This is the tenth time that the airport has secured this accolade and the third time in four years that has come out on top in the service category.
Cape Town International Airport was runner-up in the staff service category. The World Airport Awards has become the most prestigious accolades for the airport industry, which is voted by customers in the largest, annual global airport customer satisfaction survey.
Mpumi Mpofu, Airports Company South Africa’s CEO, expressed delight in the win. “These accolades affirm the importance we place on quality across every dimension of the passenger’s airport experience. We are delighted to be recognised and proud that the awards reflect the continuing dedication and efforts of airport staff.
"We are still in the early stages of what is going to be an exceptionally challenging time for the entire value chain in the aviation sector. These awards show that as a company we have the right approach and the right staff to deliver a safe and secure airport experience in the months ahead,” said Mpofu.
The survey evaluated the customer experience across airport service and product key performance indicators from check-in, arrivals, transfers, shopping, security and immigration through to departure at the gate.