Gold Coast Airport is the Best Regional Airport in Australia/Pacific region

Best Regional Airport Awards recognises airports (sometimes smaller airports) that are delivering the highest levels of service and customer satisfaction. The definition of a regional airport is variable around the world, but for the survey results, a regional airport is normally not a capital city airport, and is not a major hub serving long haul intercontinental routes. Many regional airports covered in the survey handle a substantial number of passengers, but concentrate primarily on short to medium haul routes.

Gold Coast Airport was named the Best Regional Airport Australia/Pacific and also took the Staff Service Excellence Australia/Pacific award at the 2011 Skytrax World Airport Awards.

Gold Coast Airport Chief Operating Officer Paul Donovan said the double award win is a significant achievement for the airport. "On behalf of all our staff at Gold Coast Airport, we are truly honoured to win these awards. To be held in such high esteem by our airline passengers is very humbling and we’d like to thank them for their continued support. The awards are the result of a lot of hard work and commitment from our dedicated team of very talented people. In particular, receiving the Staff Excellence award is just reward for our team, who continually strive to deliver the best possible service to our passengers. We’d also like to thank our airline partners and associated staff for their continued contribution to the success of Gold Coast Airport."

Mr Donovan said the airport has enjoyed considerable passenger growth in recent years. "As the gateway to Australia’s number one tourist destination, we have designed our facilities and services to attract low cost carriers to service the insatiable demand for the Gold Coast region. To date, our marketing and product delivery for low cost carriers has been well received with our passenger throughput continuing to grow year-on-year. We welcomed 5.4 million passengers last year, maintaining our stake as the sixth busiest airport in Australia."

The Best Regional Airport Awards is another new category for 2011, and gives the opportunity to recognise sometimes smaller airports that are delivering the highest levels of service and customer satisfaction. The definition of a regional airport remains somewhat variable around the world, but for the sake of our survey results, a regional airport is normally not a capital city airport and is not a major hub serving long haul intercontinental routes.

For the first time, Christchurch International Airport won rankings in the World Airport Awards, achieving second place for Staff Excellence and third place for Best Regional Airport in the Australia/Pacific category.  "We’re thrilled with this achievement, especially given that our airport is still in the middle of a major construction process," said Chief Executive of Christchurch Airport, Jim Boult. "These awards are based on questionnaires from millions of passenger surveys, which means that our philosophy of providing the best facilities with friendly South Island service is really working."

1. Gold Coast Airport

Gold Coast Airport at Coolangatta is Australia’s fastest growing airport and is the 5th busiest international airport in Australia. Previously named “Coolangatta Airport” this is an Aboriginal word meaning “Place of Good View”. Since it commenced flights in 1936, over the past 65 years Gold Coast Airport has undergone a major transformation from being an emergency landing strip to an International Airport with over 5 million passengers travelling to and from airports across Australia, New Zealand, Asia and beyond. In 1980 construction of the existing terminal complex began. The building was opened by the Deputy Prime Minister, the Rt Hon. Douglas Anthony and officially named the Eric Robinson Building. By 1981 passenger movements were 656,595 per year. Throughout this time, the Commonwealth Government owned and operated the airport. On the 1st January 1988 ownership was taken over by The Federal Airport’s Corporation, a Government business enterprise. Government policy changes saw the airport privatized on 29 May 1998 with Queensland Airports Limited (QAL) being the successful tenderer and taking the role of Airport Leasing Company. In 1999, QAL changed the company name to Gold Coast Airport Pty Ltd (GCAPL). Since then, Gold Coast Airport has continued to provide the Gold Coast and Northern New South Wales with an exceptional level of customer service while recognising the key role it plays in tourism and other business activities within this exciting holiday destination. Gold Coast Airport is currently experiencing a new era of growth in both domestic and international airline services, with passengers and businesses alike taking advantage of its unique location, services and facilities.

2. Brisbane Airport

Brisbane Airport is the sole passenger airport serving Brisbane and the third busiest in Australia. It is the primary hub for Virgin Blue, and a hub for low cost international subsidiary Pacific Blue Airlines and a secondary hub for Qantas and low cost subsidiary Jetstar. The airport has international and domestic passenger terminals. The International Terminal was built in 1995 and has 12/14 parking bays served by airbridges. The airport provides two railway stations as part of an Airport rail line. The International Terminal railway station is elevated and located next to the International terminal, as is the Domestic railway station.

3. Christchurch International Airport

Christchurch International Airport is the main airport that serves Christchurch, New Zealand, located 12 kms to the northwest of the city centre. The gateway for Christchurch and the South Island, Christchurch International Airport is New Zealand’s second largest airport. 5,9 million passengers travelled in and out of Christchurch International Airport from July 2008 30 June 2009. The last year Christchurch International Airport has experienced consistent, record growth in international passenger volumes. Christchurch Airport is currently undergoing an extensive expansion project. This began in 2006 when construction commenced on a new multi-storey car park building which opened early 2007. In early 2009 work on the new terminal commenced. The new terminal will replace the existing ageing domestic terminal and expand the facilities of the much newer international terminal.

Best Airport and Airport Hotel winners include

King Shaka International Airport, Abu Dhabi International Airport, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Auckland International Airport, Bangalore International Airport, Barcelona Airport, Beijing Capital International Airport, Cape Town International Airport, Central Japan International Airport, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Copenhagen Airport, Doha International Airport, Dubai International Airport, Düsseldorf International Airport, Gold Coast Airport, Guayaquil Airport, Haikou Meilan International Airport, Hamburg Airport, Hong Kong International Airport, Hotel Sofitel London Heathrow, Incheon International Airport, InterContinental Johannesburg OR Tambo Airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport, Kuala Lumpur International Airport, London Heathrow Airport, London Stansted Airport, Moscow Domodedovo Airport, Munich Airport, OR Tambo International Airport, Panama Tocumen Airport, Regal Airport Hotel, Sao Paulo Airport Marriott Hotel, Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, Singapore Changi Airport, Stamford Plaza Sydney Airport Hotel, Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, The Fairmont Vancouver Airport, Vancouver International Airport, Zurich Airport