By Jay Forte, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Afonso Pena International Airport, located in the city of Curitiba, Paraná, received the top service title of “Airport + Brazil”, from the Ministry of Transport, Ports and Civil Aviation. The award was presented at a ceremony held in Brasília last Wednesday, May 5th.
The airport was voted the best in the country by more than 55,000 passengers of domestic and international flights in 2016, by the Permanent Survey of Passenger Satisfaction.
The polling occurred in the fifteen airports that account for eighty percent of the traffic in the entire country. The airport also won the award last year.
“The research reveals that the passenger chose to reward those who bothered to offer the best service,” says Transport Minister Maurício Quintella, adding that through the study, passengers enable managers to know precisely what to watch out for to improve its airport.
“The passengers says what they think, what they wants and reveals what they approve or disapprove of in the airport environment,” he added.
Curitiba won in the main category this year, Airport + Brazil, as the best of the fifteen terminals, and in another four of the total of eleven categories of the award established three years ago by the Ministry.
Afonso Pena, managed by INFRAERO, was also the best in the awards Airport + Cordial; Airport + Comfortable; Airport + Clean; and Efficient + Bag Refund.
Located in São José dos Pinhais, in the metropolitan region of Curitiba, Afonso Pena Airport offers passengers 36 shops and kiosks, twenty food points, a Duty Free shop with imported products, offices of three air taxi companies and two VIP lounges.
Currently, about 170 flights operate daily at the terminal, carrying about 18,500 passengers, being the 6th busiest airport in Brazil in the ranking of Rede Infraero. Just in 2016, Afonso Pena airport moved about six million passengers.
The following airlines operate from Afonso Pena: Aerolíneas Argentinas, Avianca Brasil, Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras, Gol Linhas Aéreas and Latam, which connect Curitiba to sixteen Brazilian destinations and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport, in Brasília, stood out in the categories Check In + Efficient; X-rays + Efficient; And Public + Efficient Service. Domestic airport Santos Dumont, in Rio de Janeiro, took the title of Airport with + Passenger Facilities.