BRADENTON, Fla. - Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport won the 2014 Global Efficiency Excellence Award from the Air Transport Research Society.
The award, announced by airport officials July 23, once again puts Atlanta, the world's busiest airport, at the top of the society's annual benchmarking study of commercial airports in Europe, Asia and the Pacific, and North America.
The study includes a rigorous analysis of airport cost and revenue data to assess the productivity and efficiency of nearly 200 airports across the world, officials said.
The award program has been in existence for 12 years, and Atlanta has won the top award 11 times.
"This award stands as a testament to our unwavering dedication to operational and managerial efficiency and cost competitiveness," said Hartsfield-Jackson assistant general manager Balram Bheodari. "It is with great pride that our airport has once again been designated as the most efficient airport in the world."
The Air Transport Research Society, a leading academic organization in the air transportation field, measures and compares the operating and managerial efficiency, cost competitiveness, financial performance, and airport user charges for 200 airports and 26 airport groups in Canada, USA, Europe, Asia and Oceania.
The Global Airport Benchmarking Task Force includes 15 leading professors and researchers from Asia, Europe, North America, Middle East and Australia.
"This airport benchmarking report provides a comprehensive and unbiased evaluation of airport performance around the world," said Hoon Oum, leader of the benchmarking project and chairman of the society.
"With increasing competition in airport transport markets worldwide, these rankings are helpful not only to the airport and airlines, but also to governments, consultants, regulatory commissions, institutional investors, researchers and graduate students."
Atlanta International Airport serves 94.4 million passengers annually with more than 150 destinations in the U.S. and 70 international destinations in 45 countries. The airport has more than 58,000 employees. A $6 billion capital improvement plan was completed in recent years.
In North America, other top performers in the Air Transport Research Society study include Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina and Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City.
