March 15 -- Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) was named Wednesday as the world's best airport among facilities serving 40 million-plus air passengers annually in the Airports Council International's 2006 Airport Service Quality Awards.

HKIA ranked second overall in the awards, which surveyed more than 200,000 people at over 90 airports worldwide.

The surveys cover airport access and navigation; connectivity; airport services and facilities; security and immigration; airport environment; arrival services; value for money and overall satisfaction with the airport and airline services.

"Delivering consistently high service levels day-in and day-out is a challenge for any airport. Maintaining those standards in the face of rapidly expanding passenger volumes is tougher still," Airport Authority Hong Kong Chief Executive Officer Stanley Hui said.

"Fortunately, HKIA's 60,000 dedicated professionals are passionate about customer service. And our 7 billion Hong Kong dollars (896.57 million U.S. dollars) expansion program, which includes the recently opened Terminal 2 and 4.5 billion Hong Kong dollars (576.37 million U.S. dollars) in facility and capacity enhancement projects, ensures we have the right people and facilities to meet our customers' needs," he added.

Airports Council International is the only global trade representative of airports. Its 573 members operate 1,643 airports in 178 countries and regions and handle 96 percent of the world's passengers.