Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport earns Level 3 ACI accreditation for customer experience

Abu Dhabi: Zayed International Airport (AUH) has reached a significant milestone by securing Level 3 accreditation in the Airports Council International (ACI) Customer Experience Accreditation programme.

The achievement, awarded in July 2025, reflects the airport’s unwavering commitment to delivering world-class guest experiences.

The upgrade from Levels 1 and 2 — both of which were also successfully renewed — recognises AUH’s progress in integrating customer experience into every facet of its operations, placing passengers at the core of its service philosophy.

The accreditation comes amid strong and sustained growth in passenger numbers. In the first half of 2025, Zayed International Airport welcomed 15.5 million passengers, marking a 13.2% year-on-year increase. This builds on impressive growth rates of 28.1% in 2024 and 44.5% in 2023.

“As we celebrate 17 consecutive quarters of growth, including a strong performance in the first half of 2025, we remain sharply focused on enhancing the guest experience,” said Elena Sorlini, Managing Director and CEO of Abu Dhabi Airports. “Achieving Level 3 accreditation demonstrates our ability to balance expansion with service excellence.”

To achieve Level 3 accreditation, AUH launched several guest-focused initiatives that received praise from ACI. These included dedicated passenger focus groups to gather insights on traveller expectations and preferences, and a guest shadowing programme, allowing staff to observe the end-to-end airport experience from a passenger’s perspective.

The airport also reinforced cross-departmental transparency by publishing its Voice of the Customer reports internally, ensuring all teams remain aligned on traveller feedback. Close collaboration with service partners further embedded a customer-centric approach throughout the operational ecosystem.

The ACI accreditation – the only global programme of its kind – evaluates how airports understand, manage, and integrate customer experience into their core strategies.

Zayed International Airport’s recognition signals a deeper cultural transformation, with employees, stakeholders, and passengers actively shaping the guest journey.

The achievement reaffirms Abu Dhabi Airports’ vision of elevating every passenger touchpoint through innovation, collaboration, and service excellence.