A HAMPSHIRE airport is celebrating after being voted Best Airport in Europe for customer service excellence.

It was announced that Southampton Airport has won a major international award for excellence in customer service in the Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Service Quality Awards.

The prestigious honour was given in the medium sized category, for airports servicing between two and five million passengers per year.

The awards recognise those airports around the world that deliver the best customer experience in the opinion of their own passengers and represent the highest possible accolade for airport operators around the world.

The Airport Service Quality (ASQ) programme is the world’s leading airport passenger service and benchmarking programme measuring passengers’ satisfaction across 37 key performance indicators.

Three other airports in Europe also received ASQ awards in this category: London City, Tallinn Airport in Estonia, and Zagreb in Croatia.

Airport managing director Neil Garwood said: “

The award belongs to everybody who works here, and I am hugely proud of my team.

“The future of the airport is looking extremely bright with our exciting development plans, and this accolade recognising how well we treat our passengers fundamentally supports our blueprint for growth. ”

The award ceremony will be held in Bali this September.