Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) was recently honored as the world’s most efficient airport for the 16th consecutive year. 

Air Transport Research Society (ATRS), the world’s leading research network and academic society in the air transportation industry, recently awarded ATL with the 2019 ATRS Airport Efficiency Excellence Award.

“It is our goal to provide a safe, efficient, and outstanding customer travel experience for all of our guests,” said Airport General Manager John Selden. “This award reflects the exceptional efforts of our aviation professionals along with our airline and federal partners in achieving that goal. While we will enjoy this honor, we will continue to strive to improve our operations to remain the most efficient airport in the world.”

The ATRS Global Airport Benchmarking Project measures and compares the performance of several important aspects of airport operations: productivity and efficiency, unit costs and cost competitiveness, financial results and airport charges. Its top award is based on factors such as passenger and cargo traffic plane movements, flight bookings, landing fees and terminal charges, and percentage of airport revenue generated from non-aviation services.

Led by the ATRS Airport Benchmarking Task Force, which is comprised of 16 leading professors and researchers from Asia Pacific, Europe and North America, they performed a yearlong research study and reviewed the productivity and efficiency of more than 200 airports and 24 airport groups of various sizes and ownership forms in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and Oceania.

The ATRS annual Global Airport Performance Benchmarking Project was initiated in 2000 and ATRS has presented its Airport Benchmarking Awards since 2002.