Cochin International Airport Ltd. (CIAL) has notched up the highest ranking in passenger satisfaction survey in its nearly quarter-century-old existence by bagging 4.99 index points out of 5 for the first quarter of this calendar year.
The survey was conducted by Airports Council International (ACI), an organisation of the airport authorities aimed at unifying industry practices for airport standards globally. ACI’s Airport Service Quality (ASQ Departures) is a benchmark programme measuring passengers’ experience while they are at the airport. The latest survey covered ‘ASQ departures’ at 244 airports globally.
The survey was based on a questionnaire covering five important parameters - cleanliness, health safety, availability of washrooms/toilets, comfort of waiting at the gate areas, and ease of getting to the airport. It was filled by randomly selected passengers at the boarding gates of pre-selected flights.
CIAL managing director S. Suhas attributed the achievement to efficient coordination with other industry stakeholders and the implementation of state-of-the-art passenger-friendly interfaces. The airport had prioritised hygiene in its standard operating procedures during the pandemic and continued to adopt a comprehensive quality control process at the direction of the Chairman and the Board of Directors.
“Measures were taken to increase operational efficiency. Facilities like ultraviolet baggage disinfestation system, self-baggage drop machines, and controlled fumigation systems were installed at the terminals. Now, we are focusing on even closer airline and airport operator collaboration. Discussions with more foreign carriers for enhancing connectivity are in the pipeline. We have already made some progress. In June alone, Go First, a budget carrier, has started three international services from Kochi,” said Mr. Suhas.
CIAL has won multiple awards in the recent past for its effective management of traffic during the pandemic. Among them were the Voice of the Customer Experience recognition instituted by the Airport Council International and the COVID Champion award instituted by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
