World Travel Awards has just named Europe’s leading airport. The winner has received the World Travel Award in this category for the 20 th time in a row, and that’s no coincidence.
Zurich International Airport in Switzerland is once again the winner in “Europe’s Leading Airport” category at the World Travel Awards 2023 – for the 20th year in a row. Thus, it has been unbeaten in this category since 2004.
The annual awards presented by the World Travel Awards, WTA , is often called the “Oscars of the travel industry”. WTA is a global initiative established in 1993 in London to recognize and reward hard work, high quality and good service in travel and tourism.
Today, the WTA is considered the travel industries finest and most recognized global awards. The awards are presented at international level in a number of categories. The categories include hotels, airports, airlines, travel agencies and car rental companies.
In the category “Europe’s Leading Airport” European airports are evaluated based on different categories such as customer satisfaction, cleanliness as well as employee friendliness. The final choice is made through an online voting following nomination by the World Travel Award Committee. This year, the awards ceremony took place in Batumi, Georgia.
What makes Zurich Airport the best airport in Europe
According to a press release issued by Flughafen Zürich AG, customer satisfaction and the quality standards of products and services at and around Zurich Airport were marked for the nomination. Especially the cleanliness, the friendliness of the staff and the short walking distances is positively highlighted at Zurich Airport.
Following its top ranking CEO of Zurich Airport, Lukas Brosi, emphasizes that such continuity is only possible thanks to the good cooperation with all airports partners.
“Keeping quality high on an ongoing basis is one of our top priorities at Zurich Airport,” says Brosi. “In recent months, we have faced operational challenges due to the strong recovery of passenger numbers after the pandemic. However, thanks to the good cooperation with all airport partners, the measures taken took effect. The fact that we are once again able to accept this award means a lot to us.”
However, Zuruch Airport also received some criticism, including the high prices for snacks and drinks, long queues and the preponderance of luxury shops.
The other nominees
Not only at the top, but also among the nominees, little has changed in 2023. Only Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, unsurprisingly, did not make it into the shortlist this year. These airports were also nominated as “Europe’s Leading Airport 2023”:
- Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Netherlands
- Barcelona-El Prat Airport, Spain
- Berlin-Brandenburg Airport, Germany
- Hamburg Airport, Germany
- London Heathrow, England
- Istanbul Airport, Turkey
- Lisbon Airport, Portugal
- Munich Airport, Germany
- Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, France
- Prishtina International Airport Adem Jashari, Kosovo
- Rome Fiumicino Airport, Italy
- Vienna International Airport, Austria
Also read about these airports were the worst delayed in 2022.