Survey finds marked improvement of services at new airport

(HONG KONG, 10 January 1999) - A survey has shown that 92.6 per cent of users of Hong Kong International Airport are satisfied with services and facilities and more than one in three people give them top marks.

The study, conducted in December by Lingnan College for the Airport Authority (AA), showed a marked increase in satisfaction over the first survey conducted in late August. The latest survey shows 92.6 per cent of respondents describing themselves as "satisfied" (scoring 6-10 on a 0-10 scale). Of these, 33.8 per cent said they were "very satisfied" giving the highest ratings of 9 or 10. Another significant feature of the latest survey was the drop in levels of dissatisfaction with facilities that were of concern in the first survey. Only 1.7 per cent were "dissatisfied" (levels 0-4) as compared with 3.9 per cent in the previous survey.

The Director of the Lingnan College Research and Survey Programme, Dr Li Pang-kwong, said: "The survey had three key objectives: to survey passengers' and other airport users' satisfaction with services and facilities; to collect suggestions for improvement; and assess improvements made since the first survey was conducted. Rigorous sampling methods were used in the survey to get as accurate an assessment as possible of attitudes. The scope of the survey included passengers, well-wishers and greeters who speak Chinese, English or Japanese."

Dr Li said that the improvements were significant and had been measured against the demanding benchmark of the experiences of actual users of the airport.

As in the first study, departing and arriving passengers, greeters and well-wishers were asked to rate various facilities in different parts of the passenger terminal on a scale of 0 ("very dissatisfied") to 10 ("very satisfied"). The findings were then broken down into percentages of respondents expressing "dissatisfaction" (levels 0-4) and "satisfaction" (levels 6-10). A score of 5 is regarded as neutral.

The survey showed that more than a third, 33.8 per cent, were "very satisfied" (giving a top marks rating of 9-10). This compares with 25.1 per cent in the August survey. Overall, 92.6 per cent of respondents were either "very satisfied" or "satisfied", giving ratings of 6-10. This compares with 88.2 per cent in the previous survey.

The percentage of people "dissatisfied" (levels 0-4) in the current survey is less than half of that in the previous survey, going from 3.9 per cent down to 1.7 per cent.

"We are very encouraged by these findings," AA Chief Executive Officer Mr Billy Lam said. "The whole airport community took note of the earlier survey's findings, and have been working very hard to rectify the problems areas it identified. There is still room for improvement, and we will continue to work on those areas."

Some 3,369 respondents were interviewed in the latest survey.

Ref. PR-411