KLIA Tops OIC Halal-Friendly Airport List

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 (Bernama) -- The KL International Airport (KLIA) is ranked as the top Halal-Friendly Airport among 10 member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Crescentrating.com, a travel portal for Halal-conscious Muslim travellers, said that the 2012 ranking was based on surveys and feedback on Halal-friendly facilities available to Muslim passengers such as Halal food, as well as, prayer and ablution facilities in these airports. The Singapore-based portal said in a statement that with the rapid growth of this segment of travellers -- who travel not only for the Haj or Umrah but also for leisure, business and healthcare -- more and more airports are beginning to cater to their basic needs. Some of the additional facilities in the airports in OIC countries range from mosques to an entire terminal dedicated to Haj pilgrims. Second on the list is Dubai International Airport (United Arab Emirates) followed by Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport (Turkey), King Abdulaziz International Airport (Saudi Arabia), Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (Indonesia), King Khaled International Airport (Saudi Arabia), Abu Dhabi International Airport (UAE), Cairo International Airport (Egypt), Benazir Bhutto International Airport (Pakistan) and Beirut-Rafic Hariri Airport (Lebanon). Crescentrating's Halal-Friendly Travel Ranking (CRaHFT Ranking), launched last year, also included the same list for 10 non-OIC countries. On the top spot is Suvarnabhumi International Airport (Bangkok), followed by Changi International Airport (Singapore), Tambo International Airport (Johannesburg), London's Heathrow Airport (United Kingdom), Colombo's Bandaranaike International Airport (Sri Lanka), Munich's ‘Franz Josef Strauss’ Airport (Germany), John F. Kennedy International Airport (New York), Melbourne Airport (Australia), Hong Kong's Chep Lap Kok International Airport (China) and Manchester Airport (United Kingdom). Cresentrating said that all of the airports in non-OIC countries listed have basic Halal-friendly facilities available although they may not be as common as in OIC countries' airports. "With airports being more than just a place to catch your next flight, we hope more airports around the world take into account the needs of the growing segment of Halal-conscious travellers passing through their airports," said Crescentrating's business development manager Azhar Preena. -- BERNAMA