ACI ASQ Awards 2025: The world’s best airports for customer experience revealed

Airports Council International (ACI) World has announced the winners of its 2025 ASQ Customer Experience Awards, recognising airports that deliver an exceptional travel experience, as measured by traveller feedback.

The annual awards, delivered in partnership with airline and airport technology firm SITA, are based entirely on surveys conducted during the journey at airports around the globe.

What are the ASQ Customer Experience Awards?

ACI’s Airport Service Quality (ASQ) programme measures passenger satisfaction while travellers are physically at the airport—at departure and arrival gates—when their experiences are still “live.”

A scientifically designed sampling methodology randomly selects passengers. To ensure a cross-section of experiences, surveys are conducted throughout the year on various days and months, and at varying times during the airport’s hours of operation. 

In 2025, the survey comprised nearly 707,000 passengers worldwide, with more than half of the world’s air travellers passing through an ASQ-rated airport.

Each year, the ASQ Customer Experience Awards recognise airports that passengers say performed best across key elements of the journey. This year, the awards recognised 100 airports for excellence, with 195 awards presented across multiple categories and regions.

Passenger satisfaction rises at airports, despite record traffic

One of the standout findings from the 2025 results is that global passenger satisfaction increased—even as passenger numbers continued to grow. Traffic is estimated at 9.8 billion in 2025 and expected to reach 10.2 billion in 2026. This growth in passenger numbers puts pressure on airports to deliver efficient, welcoming, quality experiences.

“Airports are demonstrating that passenger satisfaction can continue to rise despite growing pressure,” said ACI World Director General Justin Erbacci, in the ACI World announcement. “These awards reflect the collective efforts of airport teams and stakeholders worldwide. As we celebrate the ASQ program’s 20th Anniversary, we recognise two decades of trusted insights and recognition that have helped airports create better and more memorable journeys. Congratulations to all the ACI ASQ Customer Experience Award winners for their unwavering dedication to passenger experience.”

Pedro Alves, Senior Vice President of Borders, SITA, added: “Air travel is evolving at pace, with passengers expecting more seamless and rewarding experiences than ever before.” 

Nathalie Altwegg, Senior Vice President, SITA at Airports, noted: “Airports are raising the bar through innovation and dedication.”

What’s driving higher passenger satisfaction?

The 2025 ASQ data reveals several clear trends in what air travellers value in their airport experience:

1. Cleanliness and ambience matter most
Airport ambience and cleanliness are the strongest drivers of overall satisfaction, with passengers increasingly valuing clean, welcoming and comfortable environments.

2. Border and passport control improvements
Border and Passport Control recorded the largest satisfaction gains globally. Since this stage of the journey often involves stress and bottlenecks, the survey’s findings confirm the contributions of frontline staff and efficient processing enabled by new technologies.

3. Human-centred interactions
Passengers prioritise smooth, respectful and supportive interactions throughout their airport experience, from security screening to wayfinding and retail.

ACI World says these trends also align with insights garnered from the ASQ 2026 Global Traveller Survey Report.

ASQ Award categories and global recognition

The 2025 awards represent the largest pool of winners yet. Categories include:

• 88 Best Airports at Departures
• 23 Best Airports: Most Dedicated Staff
• 26 Best Airports: Easiest Airport Journey
• 23 Best Airports: Most Enjoyable Airport
• 29 Best Airports: Cleanest Airport
• 6 Best Airports at Arrivals

In addition, eight airports were inducted into the ACI World Director General’s Roll of Excellence, recognising consistent long-term performance in delivering high-quality journeys.

Notably, more than 35% of award categories featured new winners this year, all demonstrating excellence in passenger experience.

The full list of 2025 ASQ Customer Experience Awards winners

Industry gathering in Istanbul

The 2025 ASQ Customer Experience Awards Ceremony will take place during the ACI World Airport Experience Summit in Istanbul, Türkiye, from 31 August to 4 September 2026.

The event will welcome more than 800 airport executives, customer experience specialists and industry professionals to discuss emerging strategies shaping airport service delivery worldwide.

Airports are under pressure, but are improving

Air travellers often remember the most stressful moments of flying—long queues, tiresome security checks, and sometimes inevitable flight delays.

As global passenger numbers approach the 10 billion mark, many airports are balancing capacity constraints, border complexities and traveller expectations better than expected. 

The 2025 ASQ results suggest that many airports worldwide are uncompromising in their efforts to improve the passenger experience.

Featured Image: Jacob Lund | stock.adobe.com

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