Security experience at East Midlands Airport is best in UK and in Europe’s top 20
Customers are so pleased with the ease of East Midlands Airport’s improved security arrangements that they have ranked it number one in the UK and among the top 20 in Europe.
The impressive achievement among participating airports in a worldwide survey is thought to be down to a combination of a new and welcoming security area fitted with next-generation scanning equipment and a cohort of experienced security staff instilling a customer-focused approach in new recruits.
East Midlands Airport has achieved the UK number one spot among airports taking part in the globally recognised Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey that measures and benchmarks passenger satisfaction at airports worldwide. ASQ collects feedback while passengers are at the airport, both at departure and arrival gates, ensuring that impressions are captured in real time.
In the survey for January to March this year, the airport achieved a Security Screening score of 4.44 out of a possible five - up 5.2% on the previous year. This grades airports on security waiting times, ease of security and the courtesy and helpfulness of staff.
The airport has overseen a complete transformation of its security area as part of an ongoing investment programme. The new look starts at the entrance to security, with new automatic boarding card reader gates and a bright, fresh environment which carries though to the main security hall. Better lighting, wooden panelling and media walls improve the feel of the areas, while state-of-the-art scanners speed up the process by allowing customers to leave items like liquids and electricals in their baggage. This has helped 99.7% of customers complete pre-flight checks in under 15 minutes.
East Midlands Head of Security Tony Jackson also points to lowered ceilings improving acoustics and providing a calmer, quieter environment that enables easier conversation between staff and passengers.
He added: “We have a core set of experienced colleagues who are passionate about security, aviation and customer service and pass those values on to new members of staff. This goes hand in hand with the changes in the security area to help us achieve these great results and make things hassle-free for our customers.
“Our staff also now have new uniforms which are smart but less formal which adds to their pride in the airport and helps to make them more approachable. We are also focusing more on learning from complaints where we get them and implementing improvements from those experiences.”
Customer Services and Planning Director at the airport Mike Grimes said: “I’m so proud that we can say we are the best performing airport in the UK and placed in the top 20 of all participating European airports for the ease of our security experience.
“We are constantly striving to make things as effortless as possible for our customers and to achieve this in security, which people often see as one of the most stressful parts of air travel, is really impressive. These scores contributed to our best overall customer satisfaction results ever, with 97% of customers rating us good, very good or excellent.”
