Incheon Airport Achieves ACI Customer Experience Certification Highest Grade... "Became a Global 5-Star Airport"

Poland Krakow ACI Gauguin Experience Global Summit Held
World's First and Only 5-Level Certification Achieved

On the 14th (local time), at the 4th ACI Customer Experience Global Summit held in Krakow, Poland, organized by the Airports Council International (ACI), Incheon Airport received the highest level 5 certification in the customer experience certification program. The photo shows Kim Kyung-wook, President of Incheon International Airport Corporation (left), and Luis Felipe de Oliveira, Secretary General of ACI, taking a commemorative photo after the award. Photo by Yoo Hyun-seok

[Poland (Krakow) = Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Incheon International Airport has become the first airport in the world to receive Level 5 certification in the Customer Experience Certification program by the Airport Council International (ACI). Level 5 is equivalent to a 5-star rating, similar to the grading system used for hotels.

On the 14th (local time), at the 4th ACI Customer Experience Global Summit held in Krakow, Poland, hosted by ACI, Incheon Airport was awarded the Level 5 certification plaque, the highest level in the Customer Experience Certification program.

The Customer Experience Certification program was newly introduced by ACI in April 2019 to evaluate the customer experience management systems and service innovation activities of airports worldwide. Incheon Airport first obtained Level 4 certification in September last year, the first in the world, and challenged for the highest level this year, achieving Level 5 certification. It is the only '5-star' airport in the world.

ACI introduced the Customer Experience Certification program in April 2019 to proactively respond to the rapidly changing service paradigm and provide better services to passengers.

The Customer Experience Certification program is a comprehensive evaluation system that goes beyond the limitations of the existing Airport Service Quality (ASQ) program, which mainly assessed satisfaction with key airport services, by evaluating from various perspectives to provide more sustainable services. Similar to the '4-star' and '5-star' rating systems commonly seen in hotels, airports are rated from Level 1 to Level 5.

So far, 60 airports worldwide participate in the Customer Experience Certification program, including Incheon Airport, with 18 airports in the Asia-Pacific region, 11 in Europe, and 21 in the Americas. Each airport’s customer experience management activities are evaluated across eight areas: customer understanding, strategy, operational improvement, metric measurement, collaboration system, and service innovation. The higher the level, the more stringent the implementation requirements set by ACI.

In this evaluation, Incheon Airport was recognized for its world-class airport operation know-how and accumulated service enhancement strategies, including efforts for customer experience such as customer understanding, proactive customer experience improvement, and organic communication and collaboration. The airport corporation was the first among global airports to introduce customer understanding tools such as customer journey maps and personas to identify and understand the increasingly diverse and segmented customer needs. It comprehensively and deeply grasps various customer characteristics and their overall journeys.

Based on the world-class airport operation and service expertise proven by this Level 5 certification, the airport corporation plans to closely cooperate with ACI to develop global customer experience training programs and establish global airport industry service standards. It will also actively promote Incheon Airport’s customer experience know-how and best practices on international platforms such as the ACI World General Assembly. Through this, it is expected to lead a new paradigm in customer experience.

Luis Felipe, Secretary General of ACI, said, “Through this Level 5 certification process, we were able to learn how Incheon Airport applies the important principle of being customer-centric in the ever-changing airport industry and actual management environment,” and added, “We look forward to Incheon Airport’s role as a collaborator who works together to strengthen global airport service competitiveness, rather than just as an evaluator or examinee.”

Kim Kyung-wook, President of Incheon International Airport Corporation, emphasized, “In the future, airports should move beyond being mere transit spaces and become places where people, technology, and culture meet to create innovative value,” and said, “Incheon Airport will lead the new standard of the global airport industry, building on the precious achievement of obtaining the world’s first Level 5 Customer Experience Certification, made possible by the trust of the public, active government support, and the dedicated efforts of 80,000 airport family members.”