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I’ve just returned from the Asia-Pacific region, where the use of dedicated budget airline terminals is becoming the dominant format of new air terminals in the region. They have been put in place to support low cost carrier (LCC) growth. This format is certainly not new, as LCC air terminals are in such places as London Luton, Berlin Tegel and Frankfurt-Hahn. These European cities are intent on attracting the new wave of budget conscious travelers. The key point of this airport transformation is that airports are adjusting to the new economic realities and building dedicated ‘budget’ terminals to support new air services.
Our colleague David Orton’s recent post on the topic of Location Based Marketing raised some good points on the challenges facing Airports and Airlines.
The basic cause and effect is that current web properties and services are structured in operational silos, which do not consider the passenger as the primary focus. In our current program to create the Passenger Experience Index as the “Passenger First” starting point to create a services framework, we are considering the complex services touch points, data collection and flow and related stakeholders as David had presented.
In support of developing a phased approach to create a sustainable passenger driven model for new revenue streams, we suggest the following process may be the most appropriate:
Phase One:
- Introduce new social models of “Passenger as a Cluster” thereby creating a standard approach for all stakeholders in airlines and airports. Time Frame: Available now.
- Utilize the new PEI framework to understand the business model to begin adoption process.Time Frame: under discussion with several airports to derive the components and metrics which put the customer/passenger in control. Includes external elements.
- Provide open data pathways via API’s into non-proprietary systems, which then create an LBS abstraction layer. Time Frame: Quite doable now, individual stakeholder uptake is the issue due to existing systems, potential contract problems, etc.
- Create “Opt-in” opportunities via a branded airport community offering, which is funded through revenue sharing and sponsorship (retail) upsides. This includes retail campaigns dashboard. Time Frame: Available now in Beta.
Phase Two:
- Build on airport communities to include both originating and destination locations. This allows destination strategies such as peer engagement, ratings and offers that span both services and retail, BUT keeping the “Opt-in” preferences front and centre. Time Frame: Now in Beta.
- Start using Useful GPS cluster data, which provide predictive movements for retail partners in the development of a Social Loyalty program for more effective and successful programs over time. Time Frame: Available in North America now, Europe and Asia – in 2011.
In speaking with several industry colleagues, we had the feeling that the agendas of the upcoming airport conferences this fall seem to have a common theme. Many sessions are devoted to the creation of new non-aeronautical revenues. But, we feel that the sessions unfortunately focus on ‘more of the same’ – the same topics repeated. In fact, we’re reminded of the maxim, “If we do nothing different, why do we expect different results?” What’s really not being addressed is the transformation from an old business model to a new one.
The creation of new non-aeronautical revenues is the top of mind of today’s senior airport management, with the goal to facilitate lower airport operating fees. What is needed is a complete re-thinking of the way airports develop new non-aeronautical revenues and what changes are necessary to address the real opportunity to transform the current airport business model.
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At AirGate Solutions, we’ve just completed our July-August update of Airports Using Facebook. We now are tracking over 160 airports, including the Top 30 International Airports, as defined by Airports Council International (ACI). In this post, we focused only on airports that use Facebook as a social media platform, as defined by an active Facebook page.
What is truly surprising is that is less than 50% of the 160+ airports, many of them top international airports, either do not use Facebook as a social media platform or we were unable to locate their site. More surprising, is the fact that we …
IATA has suggested air traffic growth seems to be resuming after the economic decline of 2008-9. Future growth trends will be driven by the low-cost airlines (LCC), as they continue to increase their passenger loads. LCC’s have revitalized many regional airports, leading to competition between airports and the need for airports to be competitive in their fees.
This presents a challenge to airports to find new sources of revenue, with the clear understanding that they cannot continue to operate with a “more of the same” attitude.
Airports recognize that they must adopt new …
In March, when the first list of “Airports Using Twitter” was posted, we certainly generated a lot of interest in the topic by airports and others in our industry. The current list of airports using social has now grown to 143, which represents a 26% increase from the previous post of the list. The list includes many of the Top 30 International airports by size, as listed by ACI (shown below in capitals).
The rankings are straight-forward: the ratio of the number of Twitter followers to total passengers using the airport. But we recognized …
As mentioned in a previous blog, Regional Airports: Challenges, Opportunities, airports continue to struggle to provide a competitive environment for their airline, GA and passenger constituencies. New or increased revenue streams are currently a top priority for most airport executives and their boards. Two sources of revenues most likely to be discussed by them are the PFC and non-aeronautical (commercial) income.
The first is the passenger facility charge (PFC). There is a current debate between the airlines and airports on this as a source of revenue. The PFC is a fee paid …
This Friday July 30th in Sydney, learn how airports can leverage their social media for brand building. We’re presenting a Masterclass, the aim of which is to give airport executives a hands-on crash course into airport branding, ultimately helping airports to drive revenue and loyalty through social media conversations. And you’ll discover the power of social media to engage travelers like Robert.
Participants will walk away with a 6-week plan for executing a social media strategy at their airports.
Introduction: Web 2.0 and Aviation
What is Web 2.0 and …
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