Malta International Airport Wins ACI’s Cleanliness Award For First Time

Malta International Airport has ranked among Europe’s top airports in the 5 to 15 million passenger category for the eighth consecutive year, receiving special recognition for its sanitation standards. This was announced by Airports Council International (ACI) on Tuesday.

The rankings are based on the feedback collected throughout 2025 from departing passengers at 383 airports worldwide participating in the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey programme across different categories. About a third of the participating airports were in Europe.

Malta International Airport outperformed the European average across all 31 satisfaction indicators covering each aspect of the airport journey, from the quality of the signage inside the terminal to the helpfulness of the frontline staff.

The airport earned its top score of 4.60 for its security screening process, which was also ranked as the second most important contributor to the airport experience by surveyed passengers. Passenger satisfaction at security rose markedly compared to 2024, reflecting the airport’s recent investment in state-of-the-art scanners and the resulting improvements at this stage of the journey.

“Feedback collected during the year, whether through the ASQ survey or other initiatives, helps us better understand our guests’ expectations and challenge ourselves to exceed them through upgrades to our facilities and training. Insights from the ASQ survey are shared with employees and stakeholders, supporting us in fostering a uniform culture of service excellence across the airport,” said Jeanette Zammit, who is responsible for the customer experience at Malta International Airport.

Malta International Airport also secured the Cleanliness Award for the first time, following increased passenger satisfaction with sanitation standards across the terminal, particularly its washroom facilities. The airport maintained consistently high scores throughout the year, even during the peak season, when around 35,400 passengers used the terminal facilities every day. Malta International Airport achieved a final cleanliness score of 4.39, surpassing the European average of 4.05.

“Cleaning rarely takes centre stage when we think of service excellence, but we recognise that it is a vital contributor to passengers’ perception of our airport and an overall positive experience. Careful coordination between the cleaning teams, cleaning schedules that are aligned with passenger flows, and real-time monitoring help us maintain high sanitation standards regardless of footfall,” said Rosemarie Barbara, who leads the housekeeping effort at Malta International Airport.

Ultimately, strong satisfaction with the various aspects of the airport experience enabled Malta International Airport to achieve an overall satisfaction score of 4.41 on a five-point scale. This marked an improvement over 2024 and placed the airport above the European average (4.12).