Hong Kong Int'l Tops Study

Travelers, in an annual airport satisfaction study released last week by J.D. Power and Associates, cited airport efficiency, attentive customer service and the convenience of concessions located closer to gates as key factors in their ranking of airports around the world.

Hong Kong International and Las Vegas McCarran International came in first and second place, respectively, in terms of overall airport experience in the Global Airport Satisfaction Study, which surveyed 10,250 travelers internationally.

The study asked travelers to rank the importance of multiple aspects of airports, including arrival and departure, checkin, concession areas, gate areas and baggage claim.

Those surveyed cited Hong Kong's simplified passenger flow, train service, shopping options beyond security and attentive airport staff. McCarran received high scores for its notably short, five-minute drive from the city's downtown, as well as its efficient facilities, checkin process and baggage claim, according to Rick Bourdeau, senior research manager of J.D. Power's airport practice area.

Seven of the nine airports that travelers ranked at or above average were in the United States: Las Vegas, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Detroit, Denver, Dallas Ft. Worth and San Francisco international airports (see chart, above).

Hong Kong International and Amsterdam Schiphol International were the only foreign airports to be recognized in the survey as being above average.

Detroit this year rose above previous poor showings in the annual study with the help of its new Edward H. McNamara Terminal/Northwest WorldGateway, which is less than a year old, according to J.D. Power. Minneapolis ranked first among North American airports in the concessions category, particularly due to the location of vendors situated beyond security checkpoints and closer to gates. "People want quality and variety in airport concessions," Bourdeau said.

While security remains on travelers' minds, they also are spending more time in terminal facilities and noticing quality, or lack thereof, Bourdeau said. "The airports that do the best on this study are the ones that have concessions post-security," he said. "People are camped out at the gate and looking for something to do."

Concordant with actual improvements in on-time flight performance—attributed largely to this year's overall reduction in flights—passenger satisfaction with on-time performance rose eight percentage points, to 74 percent. However, in the pressing area of security, only 32 percent of passengers said they were "pleased" with airport security—a decrease from the 39 percent of that opinion in last year's pre-Sept. 11 poll. "Something that we did see is people are more sensitive to security this time around," Bourdeau said, adding that travelers are more concerned about the "ability of the process to make them feel safe."

Despite the passenger slowdown and substantial operational transitions of the past year, airports remain in the precarious position of trying to shore up funding for the longer-term growth still predicted by the Federal Aviation Administration and industry groups. Airports Council International, in a report also released last week, predicted a 46 percent increase in scheduled passenger enplanements between 2001 and 2013. Eighteen major U.S. hub airports already have proposed new runway projects—undertakings that easily can take a decade to complete, between regional and federal approvals, not to mention community accord.

According to ACI, aviation demand will continue to grow thanks to the entrance of new low-cost carriers increasing competition against full-service carriers, which are undergoing their own cost-reduction strategies while bringing supply more effectively in line with demand. Moreover, increased U.S. wealth, declining fares and increased efficiencies within airports and airspace also were cited as factors in the expected boom.

The strong showing of domestic airports in the J.D. Power study comes as the ACI report found that domestic passengers increased at a faster rate than international passengers from 1995 through 2001. However, officials at the Airports Council International expect international traffic to take the lead from 2003 to 2013.