Brand Finance, the world’s leading independent brand valuation consultancy, announced results of its inaugural report into world’s most valuable airport brands.
Heathrow is the world’s most valuable airport brand, with a brand value of US$919 million, according to the report, which is the first of its kind into the world’s strongest airport brands. The report uses a variety of metrics such as service quality, customer reviews, and ratings, airport capacity, number of destinations, investment and utilization to measure the value and strength of airport brands around the world.
Heathrow is the most valuable global airport hub brand and has impressively, in the past year, managed to accommodate a record-breaking volume of 80.1m passengers, making it the busiest airport in Europe and the world’s 7th busiest airport.
Singapore’s Changi Airport clinches the title of world’s strongest and second most valuable airport brand, with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 86.90 out of 100.
Changi Airport is renowned for its world-class duty-free shops and transfer services as well as ease of access for passengers. Already one of the most important hubs in the world, welcoming over 65 million travelers per year, the Changi Airport hub has recently part-opened a brand-new location with the complex, the architectural masterpiece named the Changi Jewel. Built across a 1,461,000ft2 area, the new lifestyle hub has five stories above ground and five underneath, with attractions including a multi-screen IMAX cinema, a hotel, a full-size supermarket, and 280 retail spaces.
In the brand strength stakes, Changi is followed by Hong Kong International Airport (86.26 out of 100) and South Korea’s Incheon (85.85 out of 100).
French parent company Groupe ADP hold two of the world’s most valuable airport brands, with Paris’ Charles De Gaulle Airport ranked 5th (brand value US$544 million) and Paris Orly Airport (brand value US$152 million) in 24th rank.
Charles de Gaulle Airport, also known as Roissy Airport, is the largest international airport in France and the second largest in Europe. Orly is the second-busiest airport in France by total passengers annually and serves as a secondary hub for domestic and overseas territories flights of Air France and as the home base for Transavia France.
4 Chinese airports make it to the rankings, an indication of high standards exercised in Far Eastern aviation: Shanghai Pudong, Hong Kong Intl, Beijing Capital, Guangzhou Baiyun all feature within world’s top 25 airports.
5 US hubs are among world’s best: Los Angeles Intl, JFK Intl, Fort Worth Intl, San Francisco Intl, and O’Hare Intl.
Savio D’Souza, Director of Aviation at Brand Finance, commented, “A world-class airport hub is one that can operate seamlessly with heavy volumes of passengers transiting, departing and arriving while also maintaining high service standards across its terminals, a superior customer service offering and a pleasant travel experience for customers.
The most valuable airport brands are those that manage to meet the demands of discerning business travelers and frequent fliers, as well as providing a comfortable and well-equipped environment to accommodate for a family embarking on their annual summer holidays.”
