Airport / Ground
Eindhoven Airport rewards Facebook VIP’s with designated parking spot and fast track security
By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com
20 May 2013 | Eindhoven Airport, the Netherlands’ second-largest airport, has embraced social media technology in a novel way by offering a select number of its Facebook fans several perks when they fly via the airport.
Anyone who likes Eindhoven Airport’s Facebook page and is due to fly from it can sign up to its ‘VIP’ scheme, and two fans are selected each month from the pool of entrants. The ‘VIP fans’ can then enjoy the benefits of one free airport meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner – flight-time dependent), fast-track security screening, personal accompaniment and free parking at a designated Facebook-marked spot in a prime location near the terminal entrance point.
The Eindhoven Airport Facebook VIP programme sign-up process is straightforward. Once the airport’s Facebook page has been ‘liked’, there’s a simple form to complete, requiring users to input their name, date of birth, email address, telephone number, the number of people travelling, the date of travel and the relevant flight number. Video of the program here.
Social media presence
In the past 7 months, Eindhoven Airport has added over 11,000 fans on Facebook and with the Facebook VIP scheme the airport wanted to do something in return for its online fans. Says Eindhoven Airport’s CEO, Joost Meijs, “Eindhoven Airport is working very hard on its online presence, with regularly the highest engagement rate on Facebook of all Dutch airports and the sixth position in the list of most popular check-in spots in the Netherlands. With a rapidly growing number of Facebook fans the time was right for us to offer our fans something extra.”
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KLM ‘Feedback App’ lets passengers rate their level of satisfaction at the airport
By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com
18 March 2013 | KLM is known for its embrace of digital technology. The airline is a leader in social media and in the past years has launched a series of specific mobile apps, such as a ‘Passport’ app, which lets users record their journeys with their mobile phone and share their experiences via Facebook.
Real-time feedback
KLM’s latest mobile app allows the airline’s passengers to give real-time feedback on how they perceived their experience at the airport (e.g, check-in, lounge, boarding, arrival).
The option to provide direct feedback about the quality of service at airports isn’t entirely new. Singapore Changi, for example, has installed an instant feedback system that lets airport users rate service on the spot. The airport uses the real-time feedback to address issues immediately and to reward employees for good service. Travellers at Phoenix International Airport, meanwhile, can rate the cleanliness of the toilets by scanning a QR code.
KLM’s Feedback app, however, marks the first such initiative by an airline. According to the carrier, the objective of the Feedback app is to increase passenger involvement during the ground stage of their journey in order to improve the passenger experience at the airport.
How it works
After downloading the app, which is available for both Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, passengers first choose the airport they are currently at (13 airports are supported at the moment: Amsterdam, Accra, Almaty, Athens, Cape Town, Curacao, Geneva, Jakarta, Kuwait, Singapore, Tokyo, Toronto and Vancouver) and then choose the area (check-in, lounge, boarding, arrival) and sub-area they want to rate.
The rating consists of simply tapping a ‘Thumps Up’ or ‘Thumbs Down’ button, but passengers can also specify their rating with a comment. Interestingly, the app also allows for the feedback to be published on Twitter at the same moment. Pasengers can rate each sub-area once a day and can also view how other passengers rated this area within the last 24 hours.
KLM team leads and station management at participating airports have been equipped with iPads that enables them to monitor the feedback in real-time, so they can react on passenger feedback immediately if needed and possible.
Says Gerard-Pieter de Haas, Director CRM at KLM, “Our staff is very excited about the feedback app as it helps them to take immediately corrective action and recover the required service levels for each touch point. Moreover, we can capture this experience and relay to other touch points – like Check-in, Lounge, Transfer or even Inflight – so staff can take immediate action if needed. This fully fits our CRM-vision of ‘connecting the dots’ and really puts the customer in the center of our attention.”
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First ever Peugeot airport lounge opens in Malaysia
By Ryan Ghee, Future Travel Experience
7 February 2013 | The world’s first Peugeot Lounge has been launched at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport’s Subang Skypark Terminal in Malaysia. Before the 1998 opening of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, the (then) Subang International Airport served as Kuala Lumpur’s main airport and today primarily serves general aviation and some turboprop domestic flights.
Since 17 January, Peugeot owners departing from the airport can enjoy a luxury lounge experience, simply by presenting their boarding pass and Peugeot Privilege card or car key. The one-of-a-kind lounge, introduced by Nasim Sdn Bhd, Peugeot’s Malaysian distributor, features a private meeting centre and VIP room. Patrons can also enjoy complimentary light refreshments, WiFi services, satellite television and newspapers and magazines, as well as a flight information display.
Dato’ Samson Anand George, Chief Operating Officer, Nasim Sdn Bhd, said: “Passenger traffic at Subang Skypark has been increasing, and we expect it to keep growing this year as more flights are added. The Peugeot Lounge is a place for Peugeot owners to unwind and relax before boarding their flights. “We are committed to giving our customers the best ownership experience and we are proud to launch the world’s first ever Peugeot Lounge for our customers.”
Peugeot owners can bring a guest into the premier area free of charge as long as they too have a boarding pass. Exclusive Peugeot merchandise is also for sale in the lounge, which is located on the first floor of the Subang Skypark Terminal.
Delhi airport lets smartphone users buy products at a virtual shopping wall
By Louise Driscoll, Terminal U
4 February 2013 | Shopping on the Internet is so old hat – so it seems. Welcome to 2013, where pointing your mobile at virtual products on the wall and ordering them on the spot is the new way to shop.
At New Delhi Airport in India, travellers can view luxury items on a virtual shopping wall by scanning the item’s QR (Quick Response) code with a smartphone. Perfume, jewellery, digital cameras and mobile phones are among the luxury items that can be ordered from the on-screen menu.
Shoppers can’t pay for the products using their phones yet and instead have to pay on delivery. But the retailer behind the virtual store, Homeshop18 says it will introduce mobile payments in future.
Not a novel experiment
The virtual shopping wall, called ‘Scan N Buy’ has just been introduced at the airport, but it’s not a new idea. In South Korea, virtual shopping has been blending into people’s everyday lives, with Tesco’s South Korean brand, ‘Home Plus’ launching virtual supermarkets at train stations and bus stops for time-pressed commuters. The virtual shelves look as they would in a physical supermarket, but instead you’re scanning 2D product images and arranging home delivery through your smartphone.
With the number of smartphone users only set to rise and convenience driving virtual shopping, the technology is showing its place, at least if you can get an internet connection.
But what about virtual shops becoming a fixture at airports? Last year, London Gatwick and Tesco briefly trialled an interactive, virtual grocery store on passengers at the airport.
Squeezing in a week’s shop while waiting for a plane is one way to use the technology; impulse buying expensive gadgets and gizmos is another. Its popularity at Delhi International Airport will be interesting to watch.
FlightCar puts airport parking lot cars up for short-term rent
By Springwise
1 February 2013 | UK vehicle owners willing to let out their car to others when it’s not in use can already do so through the easyCar Car Club scheme. Now in the US, FlightCar aims to put vehicles left in airport parking lots to use by offering them up for short-term loans.
Where similar car-sharing companies aim to link owners with those requiring one-off loans, FlightCar takes advantage of the fact that most people driving to airports will be leaving the country for a fair amount of time. Owners can post details of the airport they will be departing from, how long their car will be available, details of the vehicle and how much they want to charge for rental. Those flying into the airport at the same time can then avoid more expensive rental companies by borrowing a car that would otherwise have sat in the parking lot for the duration of the owner’s break.
Once a transaction is agreed, the carkeys are handed to a FlightCar representative who cleans the vehicle before transferring them to the renter. FlightCar includes an approval process for both parties through driving licence checks and is insured against damage and theft. Video of how the service works here).
According to the company, customers can expect a 20 to 50 percent discount compared to traditional rental routes, while owners receive 65 per cent of the agreed fee. How else could car sharing be made easier?
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Emirates introduces First Class shuttle buses at crowded Dubai International Airport
By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com
12 December 2012 | Despite the fact that Dubai International Airport will increase capacity from 60 million to 75 million with the opening of Concourse 3 at the end of 2012, the airport is still witnessing capacity constaints, especially with hub carrier Emirates continuing its stellar growth pace. This means, however, that during peak hours too many aircraft are competing for a limited number of available gates, with the result that in many occasions aircraft have to be parked on remote stands and passengers shuttled between the aircraft and the airport terminal.
In order to offer its First Class and Business Class customers “a seamless, premium travel experience” if their flight arrives or departs away from the terminal, Emirates has recently introduced a fleet of custom-built VIP shuttles. According to Emirates, the rather opulent shuttle buses are “designed to reflect the ambiance and quality of the onboard experience.”
“We are constantly reviewing every touch point along the journey of our premium class passengers, to find ways we can further enhance their travel experience with Emirates,” said Tony Chandler, VP Product Development and Operations Improvement at Emirates. “With the introduction of the luxury transfer shuttles, customers will have no interruption to the ambiance and comfort that they have come to expect on Emirates’ premium cabins.”
41 transfer shuttles are currently in operation – 15 dedicated for First Class and 26 for Business Class passengers – and Emirates says it has invested over AED 73 million (USD 20 mln, EUR 15 mln) in the custom-built busses. The new shuttles add to other Emirates’ services for premium class customers such as a complimentary chauffeur service to and from the airport.
Airports evolve from ‘spaces of flow’ to destinations that connect people and places
By Hildegard Assies, UrbanRetail
5 December 2012 | Between 2010 and 2015 the size of the global airport retailing market is forecast to expand by 44.5 percent from to nearly USD 40 billion. In a time when downtown retail is suffering, facing strong competition from internet and new challenges how to engage consumers, airports’ commercial income is substantially increasing and for example in Europe now accounts for an average 48 percent of total airport revenues.
In 50 years, the airport retailing market has gone through a major development. Since the opening of the first duty free store at Shannon Airport in Ireland (in the 1950s), retailing at airports has become a professionalized market that offers (luxury) brands a unique platform to engage with an international mix of customers. Add to this the growing understanding of airports of passengers needs and it becomes clear that today’s airports are no longer just a space of passenger flows, but are evolving into locations that offer a sense of place for consumers on the move (a.k.a. ‘transumers’).
A local touch in a high-traffic location
In order to create an unique sense of place, airports have realized they had to differentiate the passenger experience. Not only by designing seamless, efficient, processes and fancy terminals, but by creating a distinct ambiance with a unique and flexible portfolio of retail, food & beverage and service concepts.
Uniqueness is achieved by developing innovative concepts, preferable with a local flavour by featuring local brands and experiences, as well as global brands that offer a selection of local products (‘glocalization’).
Airlinetrends.com has reported before on ‘localization’ of airports, with great examples at Tokyo Haneda (Edo Market), Amsterdam Schiphol (Holland Boulevard) and Copenhagen Kastrup (Foodmarket). In the meantime new initiatives have evolved at for example ANA-Aeroportos de Portugal, which recently opened an upscale destination merchandise store named Portfolio at Lisbon Airport as part of its drive to create a strong ‘sense of place’ across its airport network.
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Air New Zealand offers frequent flyers a space to work in downtown Auckland
By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com
23 November 2012 | Finding a place to work comfortably if their flight leaves late in the evening is an uncomfortable situation for many passengers, especially when there is no late checkout available at the hotel.
Koru Central
Australian Business Traveller reports that Air New Zealand (ANZ) offers its top-tier frequent flyers of its Airpoints loyalty program and members of its Koru Club lounge program complimentary access to Generator, a co-working space and business club located in the Britomart area in downtown Auckland. ANZ says it offers the service, which it has dubbed ‘Koru Central’, to provide passengers with “an office-away-from-office” and “a place to touch down” in the central business district of Auckland on the days they fly in and out of Auckland.
Inside the loft-style Generator ‘being space’, passengers will find shared work environments, sofas and armchairs, plus a cafe/bar/lounge area and shower facilities. Meeting rooms are also available. Passengers also get 2GB per month of Internet on their Koru Central account, with extra data at NZ$5 per GB. Business services like a PA, dictation services, and document production are available at Generator member rates and ANZ’s frequent flyers also earn Airpoints Dollars if they pay for eligible purchases using the OneSmart feature of their Airpoints card.
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Personal shoppers at Frankfurt Airport assist Chinese passengers with their shopping therapy
By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com
15 November 2012 | With Chinese outbound tourism growing more than 20 percent annually and overseas spending by Chinese tourists in 2011 totalling USD55 billion, airlines, airports and tourism destinations around the world are rolling out the red carpet to make Chinese travellers feel more at home, a trend dubbed ‘RED CARPET’ by trendwatching.com.
Personal shoppers
Following earlier initiatives by European airports such as Amsterdam Schiphol, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Helsinki Vantaa tailored at Chinese passengers, Frankfurt Airport has recently launched a free personal shopping service for travellers from China.
The personal shopper staff speak fluent Mandarin and are familiar with the culture and preferences of Chinese passengers. The assistants, who wear bright orange jackets, provide Chinese travellers with information about orientation and facilities at Frankfurt Airport, assist them in making purchasing decisions (such as translating inquiries about products) and help in obtaining refunds on value-added tax (VAT). On request, the airport’s personal shoppers also escort Chinese passengers through the security check and onward to their departure gate. Video of the service (in German) here.
Frankfurt Airport initially trialed the shopping service with one personal shopper in June, and is now making it a permanent feature at the airport, with eight staff. Read full article »
Helsinki Airport offers ‘digital nomads’ a private space to work comfortably
By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com
3 November 2012 | As many passengers today carry a smartphone, laptop and/or a tablet device, many airports around the world now offer services such as free wi-fi (often for a limited time), seating areas equipped with power outlets, while wireless charging facilities can be found on airports such as Toronto Pearson (Powermat) and Helsinki Vantaa (Powerkiss). Meanwhile, airlines like Delta (Recharging Stations) and brands such as Samsung (PowerPoles) have also installed public recharge stations in waiting areas.
Laptop chairs
The latest amenity that caters to tech-toting travellers that want to stay productive while on the road are innovative seating concepts that allow these so-called ‘Digital Nomads’ to work comfortably. For example, besides providing unlimited free wi-fi usage, Vienna Airport’s new ‘Check-In 3’ terminal) features so-called ‘laptop chairs’ which passengers can use to work undisturbed. The semi-open cubicle seats, designed by the terminal architects Baumschlager & Eberle, are made from leather and besides a small table contain several power sockets.
Suvanto lounge
In Finland, airport operator Finavia has partnered with Finnish companies Martela (office furniture), UPM (plywood), Fortum (electricity) and Karelia-Upofloor (wooden floors) to introduce a new public lounge concept at Helsinki Airport.
Called ‘Suvanto’ (which can be translated as ‘quiet waters’), the private pods provide passengers with a tranquil space to make their waiting time more comfortable and make it more convenient to work between flights. Says Marko Tikkanen, director at Finavia, “Our goal has been to create a new kind of passenger service, which is available for everyone and meets the challenges of the changing passenger culture.”
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Limited number of airlines have adopted Apple Passbook so far
By Brian Pillsbury, airlinetrends.com
15 October 2012 | Keeping in tune with the evolving technology habits and preferences of the “always-connected traveller” that make up an ever-increasing portion of the flying public, a number of airlines from around the globe have rolled out mobile boarding passes that are compatible with Apple’s new Passbook functionality.
Apple Passbook
Rolled out in mid-September with the new iPhone 5 and iOS6 operating system, Apple’s new Passbook feature is a ‘digital wallet’ capable of storing boarding passes, movie tickets and membership cards. Passbook is designed to centralize the storage and accessibility of these items from a single program managed directly built into the operating system (OS), which eliminates the need for the user to drill into individual apps (or e-mails) to find the relevant pass or coupon for the situation or transaction. Passbook is supported by iPhones dating back to iPhone 3GS.
Apple has created a number of templates that allow developers to quickly and easily create passes for integration into Passbook. Thanks to the ability of Passbook to use time and geographic location triggers, users see their boarding pass appear on the lock screen at the appropriate times and locations. For an airline passenger, this would mean that upon arrival at the airport, a clean, bright image of their their boarding pass will appear on the screen and can be updated to include such things as a gate change or a change to seat assignment.
As for other possible uses of Passbook, the functionality may provide better avenues for airlines to better proactively manage and disseminate timely information to flyers, such as pushing suggested rebooking options, updated baggage tracking information or certain types of reimbursement vouchers or storing coupons for ancillary services such as premium lounge access.
Airlines and Passbook
Eight airlines have adopted Passbook sofar, and it is expected that many others will follow suit as Passbook achieves growing consumer acceptance and use.
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Billund Airport lets passengers print their baggage tags at home
By Ryan Ghee, Future Travel Experience
10 October 2012 | In what it claims is a world first for an airport, Billund Airport has launched an innovative solution that allows passengers to print their bag tags at home together with their boarding pass. Rather than queuing up at an airport desk or kiosk, passengers can print their bag tags onto a standard A4 sheet of paper. The passenger simply has to fold the paper and place it into a plastic cover, which is then attached to the bag. The bag can then be deposited at a dedicated Express Drop desk upon arrival at the airport.
The home-printed bag tag has been introduced permanently following a successful six-month development and testing period, in which Thomas Cook Airlines trialled the service. “This really will revolutionise the industry,” said Kjeld Zacho Jørgensen, CEO of Billund Airport. “85 percent of our passengers already check-in online or at a self-service kiosk, so this was the next logical step for us.”
Jesper Klausholm, the airport’s Marketing Manager, added: “We want to make the check-in process as efficient and lean as possible, which is of course benefiting the passenger, but also the airlines in that we can reduce costs by using this system.
“I love the idea that you can actually sit in your own living room, get your boarding pass, print your baggage tag and prepare yourself for the journey. You can maybe come to the airport a bit later or use the additional time to have a nice cup of coffee in the departure lounge.”
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Copenhagen Airport goes local with foodmarket and apartment-style lounge
By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com
18 September 2012 | Airports have often be called ‘non-places’: generic environments such as shopping malls, business parks or gas stations which can be found everywhere and are completely devoid of local identity. Says Hunter Glayton from architecture and design firm Gensler, “Many airports lack a distinct sense of place. They fail to reflect the culture of their host cities, preventing travellers from experiencing their terminals as unique spaces. By not establishing a sense of character within their walls, these airports miss out on an opportunity to elevate passengers’ travel experience.”
This type of airport experience is changing fast however (f.e. see this recent Washington Post article “The New Generation of Airports”) and following earlier ‘localization’ initiatives by airports such as Amsterdam Schiphol (Holland Boulevard), Tokyo Haneda (Edo Market), and Helsinki Vantaa (Almost @Home Lounge), we recently spotted two new examples at Copenhagen Kastrup Airport.
Foodmarket
At Copenhagen Kastrup, food & beverage operator SSP has recently opened a new deli concept called Foodmarket, which is based on Danish nutrition expert Louise Bruun’s 80/20 principle of eating wholesome food most of the time, but also leaving room for less-healthy indulgences.
Foodmarket features dishes made from fresh, organic produce including soups, hot wraps, salads, freshly baked organic bread and made-to-order sandwiches, burgers and juices, as well as cookies, cakes and snacks. All suppliers have been carefully selected to support the concept, which is the result of a partnership between SSP and well-known Copenhagen restaurateurs Jakob Blom and Kristian Willumsen, in order to “develop a credible universe based on the principles of proximity, sustainability and close collaboration with our suppliers.”
Furthermore, tapping into the current ‘DIY health’ trend of consumers wanting and being able to track their eating behaviour, the amount of excercise they have, etcetera, Foodmarket customers can access the nutritional facts of the food on offer by scanning QR codes using one of the iPads available in the deli.
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Tokyo Narita Airport improves customer service with iPads and language badges
By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com
6 September 2012 | In order to improve the passenger experience at the airport, Tokyo Narita International Airport recently rolled out a number of customer service initiatives as part of its ‘i-Airport’ strategy.
iPads
Following earlier initiatives at Madrid Barajas and Singapore Changi airports, Tokyo Narita recently equipped roving help desk staff patrolling the airport’s Terminals 1 and 2 with iPads to provide passengers with real-time information on-the-spot. In addition to flight details, train and bus schedules, details of local hotels and lost and found information, the devices also let mobile agents provide guidance using digital maps of airport facilities and retail stores. Six iPads are currently in operation and Narita says it is using the tablets to complement the ‘traditional’ airport’s information counters.
NariTra translating app
In order to enable service agents to respond to Chinese and Korean-speaking travellers in their mother tongues, the customer service iPads also have the airport’s new NariTra language translation app installed. Launched by Tokyo Narita in early 2012 – and available for free download in the iTunes App store and Android Market – the NariTra app translates standard travel phrases as well as spoken phrases into English, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. In addition to the language app, Tokyo Narita in June 2012 also launched a ‘mobile wayfinding’ app.
Language badges
A ‘low-tech’ way to overcome language barriers are “I Can Speak a Foreign Language” badges, which retail staff at Narita have been wearing since April 2012. The colourful badges allow travellers to tell at a glance if a clerk can speak a language other than Japanese or English.
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Tesco trials virtual grocery shopping at Gatwick Airport
Images: Gatwick Airport
By Louise Driscoll, Terminal U
18 August 2012 | Tesco wants travellers to have mobile shopping, rather than passports on their minds at the airport. The supermarket chain is experimenting with a virtual store at Gatwick’s North Terminal. Tesco predicts it could be “the future of shopping.” And travellers are now getting a taste of it.
The supermarket giant has opened the UK’s first virtual grocery ‘store’ at London Gatwick airport to bring its products to smartphone users in the hope that it can convert waiting passengers into shoppers.
Holidaymakers passing through Gatwick’s North Terminal can scan everyday Tesco items on new wall-sized tablets by scanning bar codes beside each product using their smartphones. They can then pay for their goods, and arrange for home delivery when they return from holiday.
The virtual store is limited to 80 everyday items and those who use the service will need to be registered with Tesco.com and download its app from the App Store to be able to scan the product barcodes. Tesco is trialling the service until August 19th before deciding whether it will expand the virtual store to other crowded public spaces.
The UK’s biggest supermarket chain has already seen success with the idea overseas. Tesco’s Korean affiliate, ‘Home Plus’ has created virtual storefronts on walls in subways stations in South Korea, allowing commuters to shop with their smartphones and have their food delivered to their door when they get home. Shoppers scan a product’s QR code with their smartphone and the item is instantly added to their basket.
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