DOHA: Airport retail featured prominently in discussions at the 2013 ASQ Airport Forum for Asia, the Middle East and Africa, hosted by the Doha International Airport (DIA) recently.
More than 35 airports were represented, making it a highly dynamic international event to review and exchange best practices in effective management of passenger satisfaction amid rapidly evolving trends in the global aviation industry.
During the two-day forum delegates reviewed some of the pressing trends and passenger expectations that have led to dramatic changes in the way airports are managing passenger satisfaction today.
A number of topics were addressed ranging from airport security, smoking policies, airport cleanliness, and wireless Internet provision, but it was airport retail that proved to be a hot topic among the 100-strong forum.
Delegates reviewed the significant impact of an airport’s retail offering on overall passenger satisfaction, a trend that is causing airports to become increasingly competitive in providing the best retail experiences to passengers.
Speaking about the event, CEO of Qatar Airways, Akbar Al Baker, said: “Globally, airports are increasingly seeking to develop as much as 50 percent of their revenue from non-aviation sources, with the bulk of revenue potential coming from retail. This trend is seeing many airports deploy significant investments towards increasing retail space for duty-free shops and F&B outlets, which in addition to revenues can positively impact passenger satisfaction.
“Airports today are seeking to improve performance and optimise the management of concessions and nowhere else is this more apparent than in the Middle East, in particular the GCC.”
Speakers from Airports Council International (ACI), organisers of the forum, shared important research on how passengers shop at airports. It showed that most passengers do not view airports as shopping destinations although they have tremendous potential to become so.
However, 93 percent of passengers who plan in advance to purchase F&B end up purchasing, while 74 percent of passengers who plan to purchase duty free end up purchasing duty free.
As such, passengers need to know about an airport’s retail offering in advance to plan to shop there. Some 40 percent who come to the airport to buy retail end up leaving empty-handed due to concerns about whether they have enough time to locate the items they want to purchase, and this can adversely impact satisfaction rates.
The Peninsula
