DE
17 November 2020
For the fourth time now, Hamburg Airport can lay claim to the title of “Best Airport Europe”. Northern Germany’s largest airport prevailed over competi-tors from all over the continent in the 10-25 million passenger category at the ACI Europe Best Airport Awards, repeating its success from 2012, 2013 and 2018. The airport convinced the judges in numerous areas including cus-tomer service, safety and security, and in particular in environmental protec-tion, social commitmentand taking responsibility for the needs of its staff. Recognition was also accorded for the exemplary protective measures taken by the airport in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The awards were presented today at the 30th ACI Europe Annual Assembly and Con-gress, conducted as a virtual gathering this year. Michael Eggenschwiler, CEO of Ham-burg Airport, received the prize on behalf of the airport in the presence of a virtual au-dience consisting of leading figures from the industrial and aviation sectors. Prior to the ceremony, the independent experts of the jury had selected Europe’s best airports in four categories based on annual passenger volume: 1-5 million passengers, 5-10 million passengers, 10-25 million passengers, and more than 25 million passengers.
“It is a great honour for us, in this difficult year, to be recognised as the ‘Best Airport Europe’ for the fourth time. It fills us with confidence that we are on the right path even in the current situation. We, the airport, are more than just an economic factor for the
region. It is our job to connect people all over the world. At the same time, it is im-portant to us to be a reliable employer and neighbour. For many decades now, we have focused particularly on developing air travel and environmental protection hand-in-hand,” said Michael Eggenschwiler, CEO of Hamburg Airport.
Hamburg Airport has an established team dedicated to fulfilling the airport’s commit-ment to serve the local community. The activities of the Environmental Management Centre are also diverse, ranging from reducing CO2 emissions within the airport’s scope of influence to noise protection and protecting endangered species. The airport was noted for its continued work towards aviation decarbonisation. This includes the airport’s participation in the "KEROSyN100" initiative on synthetic fuel and the imple-mentation of the "follow the greens" SESAR solution with safety and quantified envi-ronmental benefits.
Alongside the commitment to transparency inherent in the airport’s innovative en-gagement in environmental and community work, the airport’s dedication to its work-force was also recognised by the jury this year. Recent months have been shaped largely by the coronavirus crisis, and the airport has enabled employees to keep up to date on this important topic via numerous channels, including employee web pages, video updates and a dedicated podcast.
The airport also won praise from the judges for its focus on passenger needs with the implementation of measures that promote a contactless and safe passenger experience.
ACI (Airport Council International) Europe represents the interests of more than 500 airports in 45 European nations. The member airports handle around 90 percent of commercial air traffic in Europe, welcoming more than 2 billion passengers every year. The ACI Europe Best Airport Awards were presented for the 16th time in 2020.
