Opinion: New challenges (and opportunities) from the ‘New Normal’ of travel

These past few months have given all of us in the travel industry further cause for optimism about the return of passengers, writes Airport Dimensions CEO Mignon Buckingham.

As we move out from the shadow of COVID-19, it is clear that travellers and their needs have changed, as have those of the airport. In the future ‘COVID Normal’ world of distancing, tests and checks, travellers are telling us that social distancing, more personal space and digital enablers will be more important than ever. In a recent study, nearly half (48%) told us they are more likely to use airport lounges and a similar number (49%) rate social distancing and contactless options as important for the journey ahead.

With global vaccination programmes proving successful and gaining traction, concerns over health and hygiene will be subsumed into the ‘New Normal’ of travel. Airports and experience providers across the airport, such as Airport Dimensions, need to be ready to meet these new demands and offer travellers a better, stress-free and more enjoyable experience.

And this shift has given rise to a number of commercial opportunities. Airport Dimensions, with our partner Swissport, recently announced the acquisition of industry leading lounge provider No1 Lounges. The new deal adds nine additional lounges, taking the total of our network to 37, plus a number of new airport locations in development in the Americas. We’re also adding other important services such as fast track. This announcement comes on the back of the announcement of the strategic tie-up with JPMorgan Chase to develop and deliver new game-changing airport lounge experiences for their members.

It has also accelerated other changes in the customer experience we provide. Beyond the hygiene factors such as ramping up cleaning regimes and the introduction of digital food ordering solutions, there is a spectrum of new ways to offer more control and more experiences for the traveller.

The digital journey will stretch beyond the lounge itself, providing access to additional services across the airport, such as the ordering of food to go, with our F&B marketplace partner Servy and duty free ordering in-lounge with retail aggregator Inflyter. These services are brought together by our new relationship and commerce platform Connecta. With more commercial services accessible digitally within the lounge, this helps to drive the revenue recovery that airports urgently need.

The hard work is already starting to bear fruit. With passenger numbers slowly climbing, our lounge spaces are seeing an impressive up-tick in the number of visitors in a variety of places. Globally, visitor numbers have increased by +45% in the past two months, and in the US for example, visitor numbers are at just over 70% of pre-COVID levels.

What we do have, however, is a massive opportunity. Now is the time to rethink the customer journey, and to look at how we blend the best physical experiences that make travel such a pleasure, with digital innovations that make that experience even more convenient and efficient. Now is the time for airports and experience providers to take a blank sheet of paper, and replace pre-COVID models of how we communicate and do business with travellers with new, fresh approaches that will make the airport journey of the future better. And ultimately more profitable for everyone at the airport.