Passenger expectations are raising the bar for airports worldwide. Travellers increasingly judge an airport not just on its facilities or its connections, but on how the entire experience feels from the moment they arrive to the moment they board. For airports that want to lead on customer experience rather than simply respond to feedback, a structured and strategic approach to experience management is essential.
The ACES: Airport Customer Experience Specialist course gives professionals the foundational knowledge to design, build, and implement a customer experience strategy that works at an airport level.
About the Course
The ACES: Airport Customer Experience Specialist course is an introductory-level program, delivered across seven online modules, that equips participants with the key concepts, tools, and frameworks used in airport customer experience management. It is part of the ACI Customer Experience Accreditation Program and is required for airports pursuing levels 2 through 5 of that accreditation.
On completing the course, participants will be able to:
- Understand the roles and responsibilities of a customer experience professional in airport management
- Acquire the key competencies needed to contribute meaningfully to a customer experience program
- Understand the concepts behind the eight domains of the airport customer experience model
- Use customer experience dashboards, journey mapping, and passenger personas to inform decision-making
- Build a customer experience culture within the organization and develop strong governance to drive it forward
- Prepare the airport for customer experience accreditation
What the Seven Modules Cover
The course is structured across seven modules that take participants through the full customer experience management lifecycle: what customer experience management is and why it matters; understanding the customer through research, journey mapping, and data; developing and implementing a customer experience strategy aligned to airport brand and corporate goals; measuring customer satisfaction and turning insights into action; and building the organizational capability, culture, and governance needed to sustain a high-performing customer experience program.
Who the Course Is For
ACES is designed for a wide range of airport roles, including customer service and operations directors, managers, officers, and front-line staff; airport marketing and commercial managers; public affairs and communications teams; security managers and supervisors; and any supervisory or managerial staff with internal or external customer responsibilities.
It is equally relevant for those new to customer experience management and for experienced professionals looking to formalize and deepen their knowledge with an industry-recognized qualification.
A Pathway to Further Accreditation
Successfully completing ACES is the first stage of the ACI Airport Customer Experience Professional (ACEP) designation program. After earning the ACES certificate, participants can go on to complete three further courses, in any order, to achieve the full ACEP designation, which is recognized across the global airport industry as a mark of expertise and leadership in customer experience management.