Heathrow’s passengers have for the first time recognised the airport as the ‘Best in Western Europe’ at this year’s World Airport Awards. As well as this new accolade, Heathrow has once again been praised for the quality of its shops, restaurants and terminals and has received the award ‘Best Airport for Shopping’ for a sixth time and ‘World’s Best Airport Terminal’ for Terminal 5 for a fourth year in a row.
The Skytrax World Airport Survey is widely regarded as the quality benchmark for the world airport industry, assessing customer service and facilities across 388 airports. The World Airport Awards are independent of any airport control or input and are therefore an impartial benchmark of airport excellence and quality.
The last twelve months have been a big year for Heathrow. Since 2003 Heathrow has invested £11 billion across all of its terminals. When Terminal 2 opened last year, Heathrow became the first airport in the world to have its own personal shopping lounge, two restaurants created by Michelin starred chefs including The Perfectionists’ Café by Heston Blumenthal and a John Lewis shop.
Following an investment of more than £40 million and 18 months’ worth of work, January 2015 saw the reveal of Terminal 5’s latest luxury shopping re-development. Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Rolex, Fortnum & Mason and Bottega Veneta now joined the line-up at Terminal 5, cementing the airport’s fashionable reputation amongst frequent flyers. The terminal now has a collection of 22 fashion and luxury brands, each of which has been beautifully re-designed to echo the store’s flagship location.
Heathrow has also made a number of key improvements to the airport including the introduction of a dedicated a team who speak 38 languages who are ready to help passengers with their journey. The airport also offers free attended play areas, over 100 free beauty treatments, on-board picnic options at all restaurants and fantastic connections to London.
Normand Boivin, Heathrow’s Chief Operating Officer said: “We’re incredibly proud to be awarded ‘Best Airport in Western Europe’ for the first time this year, and for Terminal 5 to have received ‘Best Airport Terminal in the World’ for the fourth year running. We’re also delighted to be recognised so consistently for our range of shops and restaurants. Last year was an important and successful one for us which saw the culmination of an £11bn investment programme in the smooth opening of Terminal 2 – a terminal of world firsts. We work hard to make sure every passenger’s journey is the best experience it can be and our ambition now is to take Heathrow from being the best airport in Western Europe, to one of the best in the world.”
