From the 21 November to 7 December 2022 the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) held their annual Feather Awards in East London, Port Elizabeth, Durban, Johannesburg, and Cape Town. South African Airways on these days won four prestigious ACSA Feather Awards honouring the airline as the Best Performing Domestic Full Service Airline and the Best Performing Regional Airline at OR Tambo International Airport (ORTIA). Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) and King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) also won the Best Performing Domestic Full Service Airline awards respectively. This was not the first time that our domestic stations have achieved such success. Critical to highlight is that ORTIA has taken the awards for seven years from 2010 to 2018, with the exception of 2014. KSIA has also won the award for five years since 2012.

The Feather Awards is ACSA’s annual service excellence rewards presentation and is hosted at each of its airports. Accordingly, the awards are based on the findings of two independent organisations, the Transport Research Laboratory based in the United Kingdom, and the Airports Council based in Switzerland. ACSA annually presents these awards to industry players, airlines, and aviation service providers who have excelled in service excellence within the South African aviation industry.

Feather Awards are based on airport customers’ feedback and provide local airports with an opportunity to recognise top performing airport members. SAA’s airport experience from an Airport Operations’ perspective is delivered through all customer touch points such as check-in, gates, arrivals, and baggage. Often passengers have varying experiences at these different touch points and our intention is to create a holistically positive airport experience by focussing on excellent customer service. The Feather Awards is also about recognising those entities that go the extra mile to ensure that the passenger experience is pleasurable and memorable.