Gold Coast Airport has taken out the aviation industry’s top award for customer experience at a glittering awards ceremony in Brisbane.

The Australian Airports Association (AAA), which represents the interests of over 340 airports and aerodromes across Australia, made the announcement at the AAA’s National Airport Industry Awards overnight.

Gold Coast Airport Chief Operating Officer Marion Charlton said the award was great recognition of the team’s outstanding work, particularly in the lead up to and during the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

“We’re so excited to receive this award – it highlights the huge effort undertaken by our team to ensure the 2018 Commonwealth Games was a major success,” Ms Charlton said.

“We were conscious the airport would need to deliver a positive first and last impression to Games visitors flying in from around the world and across Australia.

“An incredible amount of work went into ensuring we were ready to cope with the expanded capacity, while providing an efficient and enjoyable experience for the thousands of athletes, officials, media and spectators who travelled through our airport during the Games.

“We’re proud to say we delivered on their expectations, with no security incidents, no equipment failures and no complaints. All travel went well – even on Mass Departure Day, when our security queues were kept to an average wait time of around five minutes.”

Significant initiatives undertaken to ensure the best customer experience was delivered during the Games continue to live on at the airport, and include:

-         Creation of the GC2018 Airport Lounge

-         Games Entertainment program

-         Airport Ambassadors

The Games provided a catalyst for Gold Coast Airport to deliver a range of key projects throughout the airport precinct in time for the event, including $86 million worth of airside works featuring a new apron to accommodate parking for four additional aircraft and an extension of the taxiway network, helping planes to move from the runway to the gate more efficiently.

AAA Chief Executive Officer Caroline Wilkie congratulated Gold Coast Airport on its achievement.

“The Commonwealth Games was such a great success for Queensland and Australia, with Gold Coast Airport playing an important role in that effort,” she said.

“This is a great example of meeting the needs of significant increases in demand to ensure the benefits of major events to the community are maximised.”

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