Passengers’ reasons for choosing particular airports are being misinterpreted by airports, global loyalty firm ICLP has highlighted.

A new *study surveying airports and passengers showed that nearly two thirds (60%) of passengers welcome airport shopping or restaurant offers, against 10% of airports that believed this was an important factor in influencing choice.

In addition, 97% of airports believed proximity to travellers’ homes or offices was a key influencer in their decision to visit certain airports, versus 66% of passengers.

Meanwhile, 7% of airports recognised the importance of customer loyalty programmes, in contrast to 40% of passengers who stated they would be interested in joining a loyalty or reward programme.

THE POWER OF DATA

Mignon Buckingham, Managing Director, ICLP commented: “There is a stark misalignment between what airports think passengers want and what passengers actually want from the airport.

“If practical considerations such as proximity and convenience are not the sole influencers in a passenger’s choice of where to fly to and from, then airports need to tap into other ways they can appeal to potential customers.

One way for airports to broaden their appeal, ICLP suggests, is considering ways in which they can collect more passenger data to offer specific services to their passenger demographic.

“Understanding that passengers are not just motivated by purely practical factors, but also by things such as food and retail outlets, travel retail offers, and loyalty schemes, allows airports to increase the influence they have on customer behaviour.

“This means they can encourage passengers to turn their time at the airport into an experience, rather than just a part of the process of getting from A to B. They have then paved the way for genuine customer engagement, which in turn can drive a rise in revenue and repeat visits.”

*Data source: 2017 ICLP airport and passenger surveys, covering 35 airports and 2,589 passengers between 16 January – 31 January.