AUSTRALIA. A White Paper examining the commercial dynamics behind Australia and New Zealand’s A$700 million-plus (US$475 million) airport car parking industry is set to be unveiled at next week’s Australian Airports Association (AAA) Retail & Commercial Forum. The event runs from 22-24 July at the Pullman on the Park Hotel in Melbourne, with a dedicated Ground Transport Day taking place on 22 July.
The White Paper is authored by specialist airport commercial advisory firm The Mercurius Group (co-organiser of the AAA Retail & Commercial Forum alongside the AAA and The Moodie Davitt Report) and sponsored by airport revenue management specialist CAVU (part of Manchester Airports Group).
It assesses how the adoption of best practice could see the airport car parking industry exceed A$1 billion (US$674 million) in turnover, which would be higher than the food & beverage market at the region’s airports.
Car parking remains a vital revenue stream for airports, contributing an average of 12% to an airport’s revenue and in some cases, as much as 25%. International benchmarks can be even higher, as demonstrated by Manchester Airports Group, where the CAVU-managed car parking business generated 30% of the group’s FY24 results.
The Mercurius Group’s White Paper presents a comprehensive road map, outlining the critical steps that airports should follow – from developing effective commercial strategies to implementing profit-driven space planning.
A key focus is the harmonisation of five essential systems in airport parking management: equipment, operations, booking tools, revenue management and payment systems. This integrated approach aims to streamline operations and significantly boost profitability in the airport car parking sector.
“Not only is car parking an important revenue source for airports, it’s also one of the few parts of the airport eco-system where airports have a direct B2C relationship with passengers” said Ivo Favotto, Managing Director of The Mercurius Group.
“Almost everywhere else, an airport’s relationship with passengers is through third parties such as airlines, retailers or car rental companies. This gives car parking a strategic importance, because it allows airports to develop an ongoing relationship with passengers that can be leveraged across other commercial opportunities.”
Favotto continued: “Car parking generates materially more revenue than most other ground transport modes, so managing an airport’s car parking within its competitive context is a critical source of upside for airports.”
CAVU Vice President Growth Craig Pring said: “With the benefit of our experience managing car parking within Manchester Airports Group (MAG), CAVU helps airports propel their car parking revenues to the international best practice benchmarks set by MAG. We have developed the systems, technology and know-how to assist airports on their car parking revenue optimisation journey.”
Pring continued: “However, we are only part of the story. That’s why we were happy to support Mercurius in the preparation of a White Paper that provides a comprehensive, holistic road map of what airports need to do – including the elements that we can contribute to and those where we partner with other organisations.”
A complimentary copy of the White Paper will be exclusively provided to all delegates attending the Ground Transport Day next week.
The AAA Retail & Commercial Forum is co-organised by the AAA, The Mercurius Group and The Moodie Davitt Report. ✈
