INTERNATIONAL. Some 22% of the world’s top 100 airports still don’t have their own app or a mobile-friendly web page, according to research from mobile app developer M2Mobi.
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In an article on its website, M2Mobi’s Erik Stuyver said: “After our search (in the Google Play and iTunes stores) we found out that 50% of the world’s largest airports have their own app, while 28% have a web app.
“However 22% don’t have an app or web app at all (yet). From the airports that did have an app we found out that 62% ran both on iOS and Android, leaving the remainder 24% Android and 14% iOS only.”
Download data from the Google Play store showed that the average number of downloads for an airport app lies at around 50,000, but the most popular come it around 500,000 (iTunes data was not available, M2Mobi said).
The company also road-tested five apps from leading airports – Dallas, Dubai, Frankfurt, Heathrow and Schiphol – tracking the quality or accuracy of flight information, the availability of a flight tracker, shopping options, interactive maps and indoor way finding options (see ratings in infographic).
Of the shopping offer, Stuyver said: “All of the five airport apps we tested include information about shopping at the airport. The highest rated apps gave good information about the available stores. Some had a nice in-app presentation or even a “˜take me there’ option which utilises the app’s interactive map. The lower rated apps also gave information about shops, but it was a bit harder to retrieve that information.”
On the overall quality of the five, he concluded: “All the apps that we have tested have the basic functionalities in place, like being able to search for a flight, as well as using a map to find your gate or search for a restaurant.
“The main opportunities for airport apps to distinguish themselves from others is by combining functionalities and user experience, with the passenger journey in mind. Besides that, it is important that airports follow the latest innovations like iBeacons, making sure to implement them both at the airport [and] in the app, to become the airport that others will have to keep up with.”
Click here for the full M2Mobi article on airport apps.
The Moodie Report e-Zine regularly rates the mobile apps of airports and airlines in a regular feature Moodie APPraisal. Click here for the latest column. Many more can be found in our archived e-Zine editions at The Moodie Report.com.
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How the apps of five leading airports rated in five categories, according to M2Mobi |
