Skytrax, a consultancy which conducts research into the quality of civil aviation, awarded Amsterdam Airport Schiphol the prize of Western Europe’s best airport at the 2011 World Airport Awards, followed by London Heathrow and London City airports in second and third place.
The award is based on a passenger survey evaluating 39 performance indicators from check-in, arrivals and transfers through to departures at the gate. More than 11 million travellers from over 100 different countries participated in the survey.
"We are extremely pleased and proud with the award. It is an important award for us because it’s the passengers that have named us the best airport in Western Europe. This is also an additional incentive to continue to strive towards our ambition of becoming Europe's preferred airport ", said Mark Lakerveld of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
The award recognises the airport’s importance in making the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area Europe’s gateway. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol remained in the survey’s top 10 airports, moving up to sixth place this year and ranking second in Europe.
Schiphol is Europe’s fifth largest airport and the world’s fifteenth largest in terms of total passenger traffic. It ranks as the world’s sixth largest airport in terms of international passenger traffic.