Last year, on October 29, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan opened the new Istanbul Airport with a magnificent ceremony. After just 42 months of construction time, the airport which is destined to be the biggest airport in the world, became operational. On 3 March 2019, the airport will become fully operational, replacing the current Istanbul Atatürk Airport, which will be closed for scheduled passenger flights. “We are all ready for the occasion,” stresses Kadri Samsunlu, Chief Executive Officer of İGA Airport Operations.
“As a major hub at the intersection of Asia, Europe and the Middle East, we will bring the world closer together,” Samsunlu pointed out. “With an initial capacity to serve 90 million people which will be expanded to 200 million once all phases are completed, Istanbul Airport will be the biggest airport in the world.” Atlanta Airport is currently the busiest airport serving the highest number of passengers with 104 million passengers per year. Istanbul Airport also overrides its competitors with its size. The airport is 3.5 times as big as Beijing Airport, which has an area of 23 million square meters. “Our challenge is to be the biggest and the best,” Samsunlu said.
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The First Passengers Give Full Marks to Istanbul Airport!
The results of a survey for evaluating Istanbul Airport passengers’ level of satisfaction with the services and their customer experience are in. The survey reveals that the passengers who experience Istanbul Airport are satisfied with all of the services.
Since the inauguration of the Istanbul Airport on October 29, 2018, efforts continue at top speed to bring the airport into service at full capacity. In order to measure customer satisfaction and deliver better services, a passenger experience survey has been conducted in collaboration with the firm ERA Research & Consultancy. According to the results of the survey designed to measure satisfaction levels among outgoing passengers at Istanbul Airport’s Domestic and International Terminals, passengers give full marks to Istanbul Airport. This high level of customer satisfaction also confirms that the airport is ready to serve at full capacity.
Travel habits of passengers using the Istanbul Airport…
According to the survey, 86% of passengers have used the Istanbul Airport for the first time for domestic flights, while this figure stands at 85% for international flights. 74.4% of outgoing domestic passengers at Istanbul Airport fly for holiday purposes, while business passengers account for 25.2%. As for international lines, these figures stand at 72.8% and 27.2%, respectively.
Very high levels of satisfaction across the Istanbul Airport Terminal!
Istanbul Airport passengers give the thumbs-up to the terminal. Domestic passengers’ general satisfaction level with the terminal stands at 92%, while 99% say that they appreciate the terminal’s architectural style inspired by Istanbul. 97% of these passengers indicate that they are pleased with general hygiene in the airport, while 93% express their satisfaction with the quality and comfort of the waiting areas. 88% of passengers are satisfied with transportation within the terminal, while this figure reaches 92% as regards the air conditioning service.
International passengers flying from the Istanbul Airport to Cyprus and Baku have a general satisfaction level of 90% as regards the terminal, and express a 98% satisfaction with Istanbul Airport’s architectural design, making this the most important criterion of satisfaction in their eyes. 91% of them are satisfied with the general hygiene in the airport, and 84% with the hygiene in the bathrooms.
The survey, which also measures the passengers’ satisfaction with the various services provided at Istanbul Airport, yields striking results. 95% of domestic outgoing passengers are satisfied with the security service, while this figure stands at 93% among international passengers. As for the information desk, 95% of domestic passengers express their satisfaction, and this figure climbs 2 percentage points to attain 97% among international passengers. The general satisfaction level with the check-in service, where over 500 conventional and self check-in options are on offer to reduce waiting times, stands at 92% among domestic passengers and 89% among international passengers. Istanbul Airport boasts Europe’s largest car park with a capacity of 40,000 vehicles; when asked about their opinion of the parking services, 74% of domestic outgoing passengers and 83% of international outgoing passengers expressed their satisfaction.
Istanbul Airport passengers experience no transport problem…
In order to reach Istanbul Airport, 32.8% of domestic passengers opt for Havaist, while 25.2% prefer their personal cars. 18.4% of passengers take the municipal İETT buses. Over 85% of domestic outgoing passengers are satisfied with the means of transport.
As for the international passengers, the largest group opts for their personal car (37.1%), which is followed by Havaist (19.9%) and taxi (15.2%). The satisfaction of outgoing international passengers concerning these means of transport varies between 86% and 100%.
Commenting on the results of the survey, Kadri Samsunlu, the Chief Executive Officer of İGA Airport Operations underscored the high levels of satisfaction observed among the current Istanbul Airport passengers: “It has been a month and a half since our inauguration. Until now, we have served a total of 60 thousand passengers across 7 lines, which comprise the domestic destinations of Ankara, Izmir, Antalya, Adana and Trabzon, as well as the international destinations of Cyprus and Baku. At the end of the first month, we wanted to measure the level of satisfaction among passengers travelling through our airport. To this end, we conducted a survey to determine what we do right, and what our passengers expect from us. We are quite pleased with the results. Creating a difference with its unique passenger experience and technological infrastructure, Istanbul Airport continues its efforts at full speed so as to always deliver top-notch services to its passengers. We have always underlined an important issue even as the airport construction continues: One of the major priorities of the Istanbul Airport is to deliver impeccable passenger comfort and travel experience, and to offer an outstanding passenger experience. Furthermore, we strive to blend technology and comfort in our airport operations to ensure that all our passengers enjoy quality time in here. The survey reveals that 90% of all domestic and international passengers are satisfied with the general services at Istanbul Airport. We were immensely pleased to see such a high level of satisfaction.”
