Airports of Regions took three positions among 10 best airports in Russia and CIS countries

According to the prestigious World Airport Awards 2018 operated by Skytrax, an established airline survey and evaluation authority (United Kingdom), three international airports of Airports of Regions, Koltsovo (Ekaterinburg), Kurumoch (Samara) and Platov (Rostov-on-Don), were ranked among the 10 best airports of Russia and CIS countries. Koltsovo Airport is also ranked among the ten best world air harbours with the annual passenger flow of 5 to 10 million passengers. Airports Koltsovo and Kurumoch are awarded by Skytrax not for the first time. The new airport in Rostov-on-Don has been included in the rating since this year only.

At the World Airport Awards 2018 ceremony which took place at Passenger Terminal EXPO in Stockholm (Sweden), Kurumoch Airport was awarded a certificate of a holder of 4-Skytrax Stars with the total possible number of stars being 5, which proves the high level of passenger service. By the time of assignment, only 37 airports on the planet had been given 4 Skytrax Stars. In Russia, only three airports are given 4 Skytrax Stars, two of which are part of Airports of Regions (Koltsovo airport received 4 Skytrax Stars in 2015). The maximum number of stars, 5, has been given to eight airports in the world only.

The World Airport Awards are also called Passenger’s Choice Awards, as they are awarded based on the results of surveys taken from international travellers. The 2018 Awards are based on 14 million airport survey questionnaires completed by airline customers. The survey operated from August 2017 to February 2018, covering 550 airports worldwide and evaluating traveller experiences across different airport service and product key performance indicators by 39 criteria: from check-in, arrivals, transfers, shopping, security and immigration through to departure at the gate. In turn, expert appraisal is carried out to assign Skytrax Stars: experts of the agency are applying to themselves the role of an ordinary passenger, pass screening, passport control, visit cafes and shops located at the airport. Particular attention is paid to the airport staff performance, the length of queues at check-in counters, the speed of luggage delivery, the Internet accessibility and the cleanliness of terminals.