TÜRKIYE. ACI Europe revealed the winners of the annual Best Airport Awards during the Gala Dinner of the 34th ACI Europe Annual Congress and General Assembly, held yesterday (3 July) in Istanbul. The event was hosted by iGA Istanbul Airport.
The Best Airport Awards recognise excellence and outstanding achievement from across ACI Europe’s members, from the busiest hubs on the continent to smaller and regional airports, across a wide range of airport activities.
According to ACI, the 2024 Award winners implemented strategies “pushing the airport business model into new territories, fostering new value creation models and embraced transformation and flexibility while taking care of their people and the planet”.
The awards focus on five categories: Digital Transformation, Eco-Innovation, HR Excellence, World Business Partner and Best Airport (split into five awards by airport size).
Digital Transformation Award
Winner: Rome Fiumicino Airport
The Digital Transformation Award is an initiative of the SESAR Joint Undertaking in collaboration with ACI Europe. It recognises a European airport that has embraced digitalisation, adopting innovative technologies and procedures to improve the safety, capacity, efficiency and environmental footprint of its operations.
The winner, Rome Fiumicino Airport, scored highly for the way relevant stakeholders were involved as well as for their innovative approaches to ensure effective collaboration.
Judges focused on how the scope, diversity and ambition of their digital strategy is impressive and well matched by an outstanding execution, with one judge noting they “have found a sweet spot between ambition and delivery”.
Having been recognised already in 2021 for its outstanding digital transformation, Rome Fiumicino “has a robust innovation strategy with an incubator supporting 50 start-ups, and is an early mover in urban air mobility”.
Highly commended: Zurich Airport
Eco-Innovation Award
Winner: Toulon-Hyères Airport
The Eco-Innovation Award, in association with Airport Carbon Accreditation, is presented to the airport that has demonstrated outstanding environmental performance and an innovative approach to environmental management. The winner, Toulon-Hyères Airport, was commended for its all-round environmental effectiveness.
Toulon Hyères Airport has reduced its direct CO2 emissions by 92.5% from 2018 to 2022, reaching 94.5% at the end of 2023, and by the end of 2024 they aim to reach over 99%. The airport presented a range of projects in their application, with judges noting their proactive, voluntary approach to eco-innovation.
Highly commended: Goteborg Landvetter Airport
HR Excellence Award
Winner: Hermes Airports
The HR Excellence Award, in partnership with ACI Europe’s Leadership and Human Resources Forum, aims to recognise an HR department that has demonstrated excellence in managing human resources and developing the airport workforce for the future.
The winner, Hermes Airports, was praised by the judges for showcasing both an individual and collective leadership approach. It aims to be the employer of choice in Cyprus by having a strong leadership and high-performance culture. Its target is to foster a culture in which people feel recognised, respected, and are given developmental opportunities that will improve both their personal and professional lives.
The company was particularly commended for its use of engagement survey metrics in order to measure the success of its HR practices.
Highly commended: Royal Schiphol Airport
World Business Partner Award
Winner: Lorenzo Belicchi, SITA Director of Aviation Consulting and Sales Excellence
ACI Europe said it is proud to have many outstanding World Business Partners, who “contribute with innovative ideas and new technologies that help airports to ensure a safe, secure and environmentally performant operation”.
Belicchi (pictured above, centre) was recognised as a person who has provided an outstanding contribution and active partnership as a World Business Partner. “Throughout his tenure, he has consistently exhibited reliability and trustworthiness, earning him the respect and admiration of his peers,” ACI Europe said.
“Having been an integral part of the Facilitation and Customer Services Committee for an impressive 15 years, his commitment to advancing the Committee’s objectives is exemplary, and his contributions have consistently enriched the Committee’s efforts and ACI Europe as a whole.”
Best Airport Award – Under 5 Million Passengers
Winner: Torino Airport
Torino Airport was praised by judges for an impressive combination of driving traffic recovery – evident in record passenger numbers in 2023 – through a proactive approach to securing new connectivity. It also made tangible strides on tackling aviation’s sustainability challenges, including inaugurating a new photovoltaic plant last summer which meets a substantial portion of its annual electricity needs.
Highly commended: Finavia Rovaniemi Airport
Best Airport Award – 5-10 Million Passengers
Winner: Malta Airport
Malta Airport was commended for a comprehensive and consistent approach enabling it to recover strongly from the pandemic, both in traffic and financial terms, while demonstrating a collaborative approach with customers and staff alike. Judges noted its proven track record, efficient operations, as well as its motivated team, with sustainability, excellence and innovation at its core.
Highly commended: Brussels South Charleroi Airport
Best Airport Award – 10-25 Million Passengers
Winner: London Luton Airport
Judges were impressed by the airport’s ‘One Team, One Plan’ approach, leading to increased resilience, reduced incidents and high employee satisfaction. London Luton’s adaptability helped achieve Level 4 of the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme, with a net-zero target by 2040. Despite a temporary passenger cap, 2023 was the airport’s most profitable year, with increased revenue and passenger spending.
Highly commended: Brussels Airport
Best Airport Award – 25-40 Million Passengers
Winner: Avinor Oslo Airport
Oslo Airport delivered a strong operational and punctuality performance, with judges commending a wide-ranging approach to meeting sustainability challenges.
Highly commended: Athens International Airport
Best Airport Award – Over 40 Million Passengers
Co-winners: Istanbul Airport and Rome Fiumicino Airport
Istanbul Airport was praised by judges for a strong growth story and operational performance from one of Europe’s newest airports, with a focus on sustainability and cutting-edge airport infrastructure “creating a strong globally competitive hub that is successful at winning passengers and attracting more airlines”.
Rome Fiumicino Airport claimed the award for the third consecutive year, showing a strong recovery in traffic in 2023 with innovative business developments, seamless multimodality and pioneering urban air mobility initiatives. The airport also showed an ambitious approach to meeting sustainability goals, setting itself a target of becoming net-zero by 2030.
Highly commended: Heathrow Airport. 
