Malta International Airport has been classified as the fourth best airport in Europe overall.

According to the Airport Service Quality Survey 2009 of the Airport Council International, which benchmarks the Global Airport Industry, MIA is preceded by the airports of Keflavik (Iceland), Zurich and Porto.

MIA has also been classified the third best in Europe for its shopping facilities.

In a statement, MIA said this result is attributable to the recent improvements which were unveiled at MIA last year, most notably the expansion of the retail area with its innovative concept of a virtual walk-through shopping mall.

MIA also fared very well on other scores such as the availability of parking facilities and its related value for money, placing fifth in Europe.

Good results were notably achieved for the availability of banking facilities and internet / wi-fi access with the airport placing fourth in Europe.

ACI director general Angela Gittens said:

“2009 was a tough year for airports worldwide. Traffic numbers fell while competition increased. For airports, it was a year of balancing tight budgets with high customer expectations for service excellence. The results of the year-long ASQ passenger survey help identify the leaders that meet the challenge and demonstrate that airports have continued to invest and focus on customer service despite falling traffic numbers.”

The Airport Service Quality Survey has won the industry recognition as a world class benchmarking programme and has grown steadily over the past four years.

It currently comprises 140 participating airports. In 2009 more than 275,000 passengers were surveyed worldwide.

Passengers indicate their satisfaction with the airport experience from the time of arrival at the airport through to the moment of departure at the gate. To ensure that results reflect customer perceptions during all peaks and troughs in traffic flow, the survey is carried out following a rigorous set of programme requirements representative of a diversified passenger mix, at all times of day and during all travel seasons of the year.

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