Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) President and CEO Lee Hag-jae, fourth from left, poses with Korean aviation officials, holding Airports Council International's (ACI) customer experience accreditation received during ACI's global summit in Atlanta, Georgia, Wednesday (local time). First from left is Executive Vice President of Amadeus Airport and Airline Operations Rudy Daniello and first from right is ACI World Director General Justin Erbacci. Joint Press Corp.

ATLANTA — Incheon International Airport has become the first and only airport in the world to receive the highest level of passenger experience accreditation for three consecutive years, the airport operator announced on Wednesday local time.

The announcement was made during the sixth edition of the Airports Council International (ACI) Customer Experience Global Summit, which took place in Atlanta, Georgia.

Launched in 2019, ACI's customer experience accreditation program is the industry's first and only customer experience certificate that assesses the customer experience management and service innovations of airports, aiming to elevate the overall airport experience for passengers.

In 2022, the airport became the first in the world to acquire level 5 in the five-tier system for its customer service and systematic operations handling regarding increased demand for air travel.

Accreditation is valid for 12 months and the airport has renewed the certificate for three years in a row.

Additionally, the airport received the Best Airport award and the Most Enjoyable Airport award this year.

"Thanks to the tireless work of some 85,000 airport families, including Incheon International Airport employees, resident institutions and subsidiaries for service innovation, the airport was evaluated as the world's No. 1 in both the customer experience certification system and Airport Service Quality (ASQ) evaluation, which are the two prominent pillars of airport service evaluation," Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) President and CEO Lee Hag-jae said.

"To make 2024 the first year for digital airport innovation, we will focus on improving airport operation efficiency and passenger convenience with cutting-edge technology," he added.

The airport's success is driven by innovations aimed at reducing passenger stress through digital technology.

Last July, IIAC introduced a new biometric identification system, which uses the facial features of travelers instead of passports and boarding passes to make passenger identification quicker and more efficient. The system is currently available across all departure gates and 16 boarding gates.

Incheon airport previously set a milestone as the world's leading airport, ranking number one in ASQ for 12 consecutive years from 2005 to 2016, and no airport has broken this record so far.

Over 600 international delegates, including government officials, and airport and aviation executives from 130 airports in 65 countries attended this year's four-day event hosted by the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

The ACI is the trade association for the world's airports, with 814 members operating 2,110 airports across 169 countries as of September.