|
|
 |
Porto Ranked as Europes Top Airport |
Porto Airport Transfers Travel News |
This year’s Airports Council International (ACI) service quality survey of air travelers has singled out Porto’s Francisco de Sá Carneiro airport as Europe’s best.
This is quite an accolade for an airport whose ultra-modern new terminal only opened in 2006 — and proof that serious ‘teething’ problems such as those experienced by Kuala Lumpur a few years ago, and most recently Heathrow’s Terminal 5 , need not necessarily dog new airport facilities.
Indeed, by 2007, just a few months after the new terminal opened, it had already achieved third place in the ACI European service-quality rankings, according to Routes News .
Airport operator Aeroportos de Portugal (ANA) invested 108 million euros ($167 million) in the new terminal, with the help of the European Investment Bank, to enable Porto — the three-letter IATA code for which is 'OPO' — to consolidate its position as Portugal’s third-busiest airport in terms of both aircraft movements and passenger throughput, after Lisbon and Faro.
Before the redevelopment began, ANA described the existing terminal as "woefully inadequate" for the forecast increase in traffic. It offered just 60 check-in desks, 17 gates and two luggage-claim areas.
Airport director Fernando Vieira attributes OPO’s recent success in attracting new services directly to development of the new terminal, which received the go-ahead in 2003 in response to a projected doubling of passenger numbers passing through Porto to six million by 2010. |
