Athens: The annual ACI EUROPE 2025 Best Airport Award winners were announced yesterday during the Gala Dinner of the 35^th ACI EUROPE Annual Congress and General Assembly, taking place in Athens, Greece, hosted by Athens International Airport.

The ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards honour the airports truly leading the way — from the largest and busiest hubs to Europe’s smaller yet essential regional airports. With 2024 passenger traffic surpassing pre‑pandemic levels and further growth expected in 2025, airports are facing new challenges in operations, sustainability, passenger experience, security, financial resilience, and staff wellbeing. Europe’s airports have needed to adapt at incredible speed, with rock‑solid resilience and innovative strategies to get ahead of fast‑changing market dynamics. This year’s award theme of ‘the challenges of growth’ recognises those who have risen to meet these demands head‑on.

Four area‑specific awards were also presented, including Digital Transformation Award, Eco‑Innovation Award, HR Excellence Award and World Business Partner Recognition.

AWARD FOR EXCEPTIONAL RESILIENCE — UKRAINIAN AIRPORTS

A surprise announcement for attendees, ACI EUROPE decided to present Ukrainian Airports with an Award for Exceptional Resilience: recognising the grit and steadfastness with which they have weathered the past years. With their airspace closed and all air connectivity lost, they have worked tirelessly to preserve existing infrastructure and strived to maintain operational readiness, all whilst caring for their own staff. With a full loss of operating revenues and war‑inflicted damages, ACI EUROPE chose to recognise this exceptional and unprecedented hardship with an award representing the support of the European airport community.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AWARD — MUNICH AIRPORT

The Digital Transformation Award, an initiative of the SESAR Joint Undertaking in collaboration with ACI EUROPE, recognises a European airport that has embraced digitalisation, and adopted innovative technologies and procedures to improve the safety, capacity, efficiency, and environmental footprint of its operations. This year’s winner, Munich Airport, impressed the judges with a wide range of technologies that have enhanced both passenger experience and operational efficiency: including service robots and AI for turnaround management. Through a strategic focus on digital transformation and ecosystem collaboration, they have positioned themselves as leaders in digital aviation.

Athens International Airport was also highly commended in this category.

ECO‑INNOVATION AWARD — MAASTRICHT‑AACHEN AIRPORT

The Eco‑Innovation Award commends an airport that has demonstrated outstanding environmental performance and an innovative approach to environmental management. A record number of airports submitted applications this year; demonstrating the airport industry’s genuinely proactive approach to reducing its impact on the environment.

This year’s winner, Maastricht‑Aachen Airport, was highly praised for its project Electrifly — a pioneering fully electric door‑to‑door international travel experience. The jury was impressed with the highly ambitious and innovative aspects of the project, charting the way forward for zero‑emission air transport of tomorrow, in collaboration with a wide array of stakeholders. Its efforts serve as a blueprint model for other airports to emulate in advancing multimodal journeys, including fully‑electric flights.

Avinor Stavanger Airport was also highly commended in this category.

HR EXCELLENCE AWARD — LYON AIRPORT

The HR Excellence Award recognises an airport’s HR department that has demonstrated excellence in managing human resources and developing the airport workforce for the future; aiming to give exposure to new procedures and skills for the overall betterment of the airport community. This year, the applications were judged with a special focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).

Lyon Airport’s winning application included a wide range of outstanding initiatives, demonstrating genuine commitment to DEI. Lyon Airport’s HR department set out a comprehensive plan to identify, monitor and improve its DEI policies, with judges noting the project demonstrated both an individual and collective leadership approach in a truly inclusive workplace.

WORLD BUSINESS PARTNER AWARD — ELLA SOLTANI, TO70 Aviation

This award recognises an ACI EUROPE World Business Partner, either individual or company, that has made significant contributions to the industry. It commends the exemplary efforts made by the World Business Partner community and the value they provide to ACI EUROPE as a whole.

The winner, Ella Soltani of To70 Aviation, has been a reliable and trustworthy contributor to many of ACI EUROPE’s activities. Her involvement in the Environmental Strategy Committee, the Stargate Project, as well as through a number of industry conferences and events where she took on an active role of moderator and animator of important discussions with sustainability at the heart and displaying unparalleled energy and deep technical expertise, makes her award well-earned. 

IN THE UNDER 5 MILLION PASSENGERS CATEGORY — CORK AIRPORT

This award was secured by Cork Airport, who demonstrated strong performance across a range of metrics — including a period of booming passenger growth (+10%, YoY), all whilst enhancing operational efficiency, passenger experience and environmental responsibility. Impressively, they have made outstanding strides in sustainability — achieving the best performing commercial semi state body in the Republic of Ireland two years in succession for carbon reduction whilst delivering a fast, friendly, service to passengers.

Tallinn Airport was also highly commended in this category.

IN THE 5‑10 MILLION PASSENGERS CATEGORY — VASIL LEVSKI SOFIA AIRPORT

The winner, Vasil Levski Sofia Airport wowed the judges with what they described as a compelling, ambitious, and well‑structured transformation strategy, including efforts to support human capital development and strengthen connections with local communities. Judges also praised its ambitious plans for, and current progress towards, net zero by 2036.

Larnaka International Airport was also highly commended in this category.

IN THE 10‑25 MILLION PASSENGERS CATEGORY — HAMBURG AIRPORT

Hamburg Airport, this year’s winner, was particularly commended for a long‑term focus on digital processes, enhanced passenger comfort and extensive initiatives aimed at securing a carbon‑free future. Alongside impressive route and airline growth, the airport is on track to become its country’s first CO₂‑free metropolitan airport — powered by its own wind farm and green district heating.

Milano Linate Airport was also highly commended in this category.

IN THE 25‑40 MILLION PASSENGERS CATEGORY — ATHENS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Noted for its ability to address its challenges head on through strategic strengths, winners Athens International Airport were applauded for always pushing themselves to be better. Having tackled seasonality and scaled new heights in terms of destination promotion through collaborations with key aviation and tourism stakeholders, they are truly unmatched winners in this category.

OVER 40 MILLION PASSENGERS — ROME FIUMICINO AIRPORT

It is not the first time that Rome Fiumicino Airport has won in this category, but its continued commitment to excellence makes them worthy of taking the title multiple times. They were particularly commended by judges on the environmental front, with this year’s launch of Europe’s largest self‑consumption solar farm — producing 30 GWh/year and cutting over 11,000 tons of CO2 annually. A data‑driven approach to airport management and reinforced commitment to stakeholder collaboration sealed its continued recognition.

London Heathrow Airport was also highly commended in this category.

__________________

Download the photos from the Best Airport Awards 2025 ceremony here.