Bristol Airport has been voted the best airport of its size in Europe in one of the industry’s top awards schemes.
The airport, which handled 8.1m passengers last year, shared top billing in the 5m to 10m passenger category with Seville Airport in Spain at the annual ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards last night.
The judges said they selected Bristol, which was highly commended in the category last year, for its continued investment in infrastructure, its staff training and increased public transport links.
The airport, one of the UK’s fastest growing, was also recognised for its new security search facility, which the judging panel said had improved the passenger experience at security control and meant Bristol has achieved its highest-ever ASQ (Airport Service Quality) score for security.
The judges also said they appreciated the airport’s commitment to the needs of passengers with restricted mobility and its environmental strategy which was aiming towards carbon neutrality.
The new security facility was part of a £160m development programme which was completed last year and also added new check-in, departure, arrival and retail areas.
Passenger numbers at Bristol, which is owned by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, have soared by 45% over the past 10 years passenger numbers.
Public consultation recently took place on the first draft of its ambitious masterplan, which sets out how the airport could serve around 20m passengers a year by the mid-2040s.
The ACI Awards, which were held in Brussels, have been staged for 14 years champion airports’ achievements in activities ranging from customer service, facilities and retail to security, community relations and environmental awareness and operations.
Bristol Airport business development director Nigel Scott described winning the award as a huge honour and said it recognised the airport staff’s “hard work, passion and commitment” in delivering on its promise to passengers that ‘amazing journeys start here’.
“The judges were particularly impressed by our investment in facilities to enhance the customer experience, public transport improvements and special assistance initiatives such as becoming ‘autism friendly’,” he said.
“From the airlines which connect us with more than 125 destinations around the world to our business partners who help to deliver a seamless customer experience, everyone in the Bristol Airport community can be proud of this achievement.”
Other winners were Tallinn Airport (under 5m passengers), Hamburg Airport (10-25m), Rome Fiumicino (25m-plus), Amsterdam Schiphol (eco-innovation award) and Paphos International (accessible airport award).
The ACI (Airports Council International) EUROPE represents more than 500 airports in 45 European countries which between them carried 2bn passengers and 20m tonnes of freight in 2016.
Pictured: Bristol Airport business development director Nigel Scott and head of marketing Isabelle Whiteman (first and second right) join the team from Seville Airport to collect their ACI EUROPE awards
