[Travel News ★★★]
(P1) A great air travel experience doesn’t just begin at take-off.
(P2) The industry is increasingly realizing it needs to keep passengers happy on the ground as well as in the air.
(P3) The Airport Service Quality Awards, whose 2015 winners have just been revealed, measures which airports are doing the best job of putting a smile on travelers’ faces. Incheon Airport, South Korea, and Singapore Changi Airport tied in first place in Best Airports by Size: Over 40 Million Passengers per Year.
Crowd-pleasing innovations
(P4) It’s yet another award these two can add to the shelf, having secured first and second place in travel website Sleeping in Airports’ survey of the world’s best airports last October.
(P5) It’s the fifth year in a row that Changi has topped the ASQ Awards, thanks to crowd-pleasing innovations such as two 24-hour movie theaters screening the latest blockbusters free of charge.
(P6) The ASQ awards, organized by the Montreal-based Airports Council International, are the result of more than 550,000 in-depth passenger satisfactions surveys carried out last year at more than 300 airports across 80 countries worldwide.
(P7) Passengers are asked for their views on 34 key service indicators, including airport access, check-in, security, airport facilities, food and beverage and retail.
Stellar passenger experience
(P8) “Airports’ increasing concentration on ensuring a stellar passenger experience is part of a larger trend,” says Angela Gittens, ACI World’s director general.
(P9) “Airports have evolved into complex, customer-focused businesses that in many cases are in competition with each other for passenger traffic.
(P10)”From duty-free and restaurants to ambiance, cleanliness, courtesy of staff, amenities, efficiency and more, air travelers are expecting big things from the airports through which they travel.”
(P11) London Heathrow triumphed in Best Airports by Size and Region: Europe — a new category for 2015.
(P12) That’s despite not scratching the top 10 in travel analysts OAG’s list of the world’s most punctual airports — something OAG’s senior analyst John Grant blames on capacity strains.
(P13) Indianapolis Airport was the top airport in North America, followed by Grand Rapids
(P14) The following five airports were singled out as showing the most improvement: Nairobi; Denpasar, Indonesia; Istanbul; Kingston, Jamaica; Damman, Saudi Arabia; Saskatoon, Canada.
WORDS: 355
SOURCE: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/02/aviation/airport-service-quality-awards-2015/index.html
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
If you found the passage difficult to read or had problems understanding specific words or idiomatic expressions, please discuss them with your tutor. The following discussion questions should be answered in your own words and with your own arguments.
- Briefly, summarize the content of the article in your own words.
- Do you travel? Do you like or dislike any airports? If yes, which ones
- Did you ever have a bad experience in an airport? If yes, explain
- Is customer service important to you?
- Do the stores and restaurants in airports charge too much for their products?
EXPRESSIONS or PHRASES:
What do the following expressions or phrases mean?
- Take off (P1)
- Putting a smile on travelers’ faces (P3)
- Can add to the shelf (P4)
- Not scratching (P12)
Image source: by “unknown” http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/02/aviation/airport-service-quality-awards-2015/