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| Lee Hag-jae, the president of Incheon International Airport Corp., delivers an opening speech during the fifth edition of the Airport Council International (ACI) Customer Experience Global Summit in Incheon, Wednesday. Courtesy of Incheon International Airport Corp. |
By Lee Hae-rin
Incheon International Airport earned the Airports Council International's (ACI) highest level of customer experience accreditation for the second year in a row, its operator announced, Wednesday.
Launched in 2019, the ACI's customer experience accreditation program is the industry's first and only customer experience certificate that assesses customer experience management and service innovations of the world's airports, aiming to improve overall airport experience.
The announcement was made during the fifth ACI Customer Experience Global Summit in Incheon.
Last year, the airport became the first in the world to acquire level 5 in the five-tier system for its customer service and systematic operations handling increased demand for air travel.
"We are very pleased that we have partners like Incheon airport that … bring very good values for the community that they serve and … and is leading, especially in customer experience service," ACI Director-General Luis Felipe de Oliveira said during a press conference.
Behind the winning vibes are the airport's efforts to reduce passenger stress with digital technology.
In July, Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) introduced a new biometric identification system, which uses facial features of travelers instead of passports and boarding passes across all departure gates and at 16 boarding gates.
The technology aims to make passenger identification quicker and more efficient, thereby easing congestion.
"Amid intensifying competition among global airports in the endemic era, Incheon airport plans to lead a global standard in customer service by accelerating the airport's own differentiated service innovations," IIAC President Lee Hag-jae said.
Lee added that the airport aims to expand the facial recognition identification service across the airport by 2025 and develop the technology further to link it with payments. By 2026, passengers will be able to drop their luggage outside of the airport, at home, for example, before departure, and come to Incheon airport light-handed, he said.
In addition, Incheon airport became the first Korean airport to receive the highest mark, level 4, of the ACI's Airport Carbon Accreditation for its carbon emission management.
The ACI is a trade association of the world's airports consisting of 712 members operating 1,925 airports in 171 countries, as of January.
Over 600 international delegates, including government officials, airport and aviation executives from 80 airports in 62 countries and customer experience experts attended this year's four-day event, hosted by the IIAC from Monday to Thursday at Paradise City.
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