Page 22 - ASUTIL 2024 Edition

INSIDER

Bogota’s El Dorado Airport named Best Airport in South America
for the sixth time

Bogota’s El Dorado International
Airport has been chosen as the Best
Airport in South America for the sixth
time and third consecutive year according
to Skytrax. Additionally, it has been
recognized for the fourth time as the airport
with the Best Staff in South America.
These awards were announced at the
end of April during the Passenger Terminal
Expo in Frankfurt, Germany.
“This recognition drives us to continue
working to improve the travel experience
of the more than 40 million passengers who
transit annually through El Dorado. Being
the best in South America reflects our
commitment and that of the entire airport
community to the airport of all Colombians
and is the result of a joint effort to provide
a memorable experience,” said Natalí is the result of continuous efforts by El Dorado also features 56 self-
Leal, General Manager of OPAIN, the OPAIN, the airport community, and the check-in modules, 46 autonomous baggage
concession holder of Bogota’s airport. authorities operating at El Dorado, to delivery machines, 40 boarding pass reader
Skytrax evaluates over 550 airports deliver memorable experiences to travelers machines, and 44 biometric machines in
worldwide through traveler surveys over and visitors of the airport terminal. the emigration and immigration zones,
a period of 7 months. The survey assesses Among the Airport’s highlights are which are part of the innovation initiatives
passengers’ experiences in all areas of such innovations as its Sunflower program, that enable an agile, safe, and comfortable
airport service and facilities, from check-in, which gives preferential treatment to operation for travelers.
arrivals, transfers, shopping, security, and people with hidden disabilities; and its El Dorado served 39.5 million
immigration to boarding gate departure. DoraBot, a virtual assistant created with passengers in 2023, and is the second
According to the official statement Artificial Intelligence that provides real- busiest airport in Latin America.
from El Dorado Airport, this achievement time information to users via WhatsApp.

ACI-LAC: Regional Aviation traffic grew 5.5% in 1Q 2024

Airports Council International for increase of 2.5% over the previous year, IATA reports
Latin America and the Caribbean (ACI- followed by Mexico, which rose 1.3% In addition, the International Air
LAC) reports that passenger volume grew reaching a passenger volume of more than Transport Association (IATA) reports that
5.5% in the first quarter of 2024 versus 45 million people. in April, Latin American airlines saw a
last year for the airports in the region. Rafael Echevarne, director general 14.5% year-on-year increase in demand.
Preliminary figures compiled by ACI- of ACI-LAC, commented, “Air transport Capacity climbed 13.5% year-on-year.
LAC indicate that Uruguay was the best is fundamental to the economic and The load factor rose to 84.1% (+0.7ppt
performing country in percentage terms social growth of Latin America and the compared to April 2023), the highest
compared to the same period last year, Caribbean, so we celebrate this growth among the regions.
with growth of 28.6%, followed by Peru which demonstrates the great potential of Globally, all regions showed strong
(+21.4%) and Chile (+18.9%). Ecuador our region.” growth for international passenger markets
was the only country to show a slight The ACI-LAC statistic is based in April 2024 compared to April 2023. The
decrease (-2.8%) in passenger movements on passenger traffic data at the region’s load factor increased to a two-year high,
in the first quarter of 2024. busiest airports, which account for more and capacity increases were well-matched
Brazil continues to be the leading than 90% of the total traffic in Latin to demand, says IATA.
market in Latin America and the America and the Caribbean.
Caribbean with 52 million passengers, an

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