This general view shows the interior of the boarding hall at the newly opened terminal 3 at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, on the outskirts of Jakarta, early on August 9, 2016. The main airport serving the Indonesian capital Jakarta on August 9 opened a new terminal that will allow the overcrowded aviation hub to handle tens of millions more passengers a year. / AFP PHOTO / BAY ISMOYO — This general view shows the interior of the boarding hall at the newly opened terminal 3 at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, on the outskirts of Jakarta, early on August 9, 2016. AFP

Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten has been named the World’s Most Improved Airport in 2017 based on a survey conducted by Skytrax, a press statement says.

The award was handed over to state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura (AP) II president director Muhammad Awaluddin by Skytrax CEO Edward Plaisted at Passenger Terminal EXPO in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on Wednesday.

“It makes us proud that Soekarno-Hatta Airport has been named the World’s Most Improved Airport by Skytrax, which is a noted organization in the aviation world,” said Awaluddin in a press statement on Wednesday.

He said the award reflected the greater ambition to make Soekarno-Hatta among the best airports in the world.

Airports that followed after Soekarno-Hatta in the World’s Most Improved Airport 2017 category were in Doha, Houston, Delhi, Haikou Meilan, Guangzhou, Phoenix, Tokyo (Narita), Paris (Charles de Gaulle) and Los Angeles.

With the latest award, Soekarno-Hatta Airport has been upgraded to 44th position from 63rd among the world’s best airports.

The award is based on a Skytrax World Airport Survey involving 13.82 million respondents from 105 countries. The respondents were asked to assess 550 airports across the world from July 2016 to February 2017.

Edward Plaisted said the award was based on the opinion of airport users. “The award is in appreciation of Soekarno-Hatta Airport’s efforts to improve its standard of service, including the operation of Terminal 3,” Plaisted said. CBB