This specific airport-oriented white paper on passenger experience could prove useful in lots of industries, especially when it comes to facility management. Probably wise to avoid short term profits and focus on long term customer experience improvements. FOUR STEPS TO A GREAT PASSENGER EXPERIENCE (WITHOUT REBUILDING THE TERMINAL) A whitepaper for airport operations directors

1. FOUR STEPS TO A
GREAT PASSENGER
EXPERIENCE
(WITHOUT REBUILDING
THE TERMINAL)
A whitepaper for airport operations directors

2. Airports are increasingly a service
oriented industry – the passenger
experience is important
Over the past decade, the passenger experience has
become an important focus at airports all over the world.
A range of external pressures has obliged airports of all
kinds to think more carefully about service quality.
These pressures include:
• directcompetitionforpassengersandnetworkcarriers,
eg between hubs or geographically close airports
• the need to maximise non-aeronautical revenue
• local community pressure, eg promoting the airport to
attract local investment
• government pressure (particularly for regulated
airports)
• media pressure (often negative).
Need for revenue is driving airport change
Probably the most important of these is the drive to
maximise non-aeronautical revenue. Most commercial
experts agree that improvements in the overall experience
tend to improve spend per individual.
It is clear that an airport with sufficient budget to build
new terminals and create a completely new experience
can dramatically improve its passenger satisfaction ratings
(although it’s not guaranteed).
But most airports are not in this situation. Operations
directors are generally facing an uphill battle, having to
work with existing facilities and find ways to maintain a
sufficient level of service despite increasing traffic. All of
this on an ever tighter budget.
The happier passengers are, the more they spend
Source: DKMA commercial research
- 0.8 $
- 0.6 $
- 0.4 $
- 0.2 $
0.2 $
0.4 $
0.6 $
0.8 $
1.0 $
-0.06 -0.04 -0.02 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10
Increase in non-aeronautical revenue
per enplaned passenger (USD)
Increase in
satisfaction score
When satisfaction increases by
0.1 (on a 5 point scale), non-
aeronautical revenue per enplaned
passenger rises by 0.8 USD
DKMA surveys back up this assertion. Our research
suggests that on average, an improvement of 0.1 (on a 5
point scale) will lead to an increase in non-aeronautical
revenue per enplaned passenger of 0.8 USD.
To be successful, airports need to find new ways to get the
most out of existing facilities and resources.
It is rare to find airports which have been able to transform
their experience using the existing facilities. This is due
to a lack of understanding of what drives passenger
satisfaction.
The good news is that for most airports it is possible to
significantly improve satisfaction levels without spending
much money; by optimising service delivery.
Getting the most out of your facilities
1

3. Why airports struggle to create a great
passenger experience
Many airports know when they have weaknesses but not
how to fix the causes of poor performance
A number of benchmark surveys and tools are now being
used to compare and contrast airport performance. While
these tools can swiftly place an airport compared to its
peers, they rarely provide insight into how to improve the
passenger experience.
This can lead to the extremely frustrating scenario of
increasing amounts of data showing flat, or worse,
declining performance.
Making a noticeable change is difficult
Stakeholders, management groups and governments often
underestimate how much of a step change is necessary
for passengers as a group to notice. Over-hyped levels of
expectation are often a recipe for disappointment.
In practice it is not unusual for the benefits of a new
facility to be dampened by design, penny pinching and
implementation issues eg corridors too narrow, insufficient
gate seating, drab colour schemes etc.
The best airport experiences are based on evolution not
revolution
It is easy to overlook that the airports with the best
passenger experiences are those which have worked
intensely over a long period of time to instil excellence and
continuously improve all aspects of the airport.
High quality facilities are rarely created on a budget and
require staff to operate and maintain them at the same
high level. A common problem is staff picking up bad
habits in an old facility and carrying them over into a brand
new facility.
2
Common reasons why airports do not
improve the passenger experience
The most common reasons airports struggle to
improve the passenger experience in existing
facilities are:
1. facilities operating over or close to capacity
2. facilities designed for different purposes or
aircraft
3. architectural preferences have damaged the
ease of use of the facility
4. commercial projects have damaged the ease
of use of the facility
5. airline preferences have damaged the ease of
use/aesthetics of the facility
6. lack of investment over time leading to
maintenance and décor issues
7. quality standards are too low across the airport
8. airport staff are unable to see or appreciate
(and hence deal with) everyday problems
9. the airport management overly prioritises
operational processes and ignores the
passenger experience
The first 3 items may well overshadow all other
options. Building a new terminal / facility may be
the only solution.
However for the rest it may be possible to
significantly improve the passenger experience
without necessarily making large investments.
Maximising satisfaction levels is not
a question of simply working harder. It
takes a step change in how you work.

4. 3
Think carefully about priorities
A common issue seen around the world is airports which
have focused on point 4 far more aggressively than 1, 2
and 3. The argument that shops and restaurants bring in
much-needed revenue is a seductive one. However we
believe that balance is crucial.
Damaging the airport experience by overloading the
terminal and the wayfinding with shops and restaurants
is likely to damage medium to long term revenues as
passengers nearly all prefer to first find their gate and only
then shop or eat. This means:
• Shop and restaurant revenues are reduced as the
passengers are stressed and lost
• Passengers may prefer to sit at the gate rather than
risk getting lost
• Passengers may consider using alternative airports in
the future
The terminal experience matters
The world’s top airports such as ICN, SIN and HKG take
great care to ensure that their shopping and restaurants do
not hinder or obstruct the passenger’s journey to the gate.
Lines of sight are carefully protected.
These airports have also put a huge amount of effort
into maintaining very high standards of cleanliness and
Analysis and experience with hundreds of airports around
the world has allowed us to identify five broad guidelines
for a great airport experience, in order of importance.
1. Focus most on those aspects of the airport that all
passengers experience. (Terminal cleanliness and
tidiness, maintenance, space, natural light, décor /
colour schemes etc)
2. Queues and processes need to be reasonable all the
time, not perfect some of the time. Passengers only
remember queues which are bad.
3. Passengers need to be able to sit down. Preferably at
the gate, but if not then in comfort in the main terminal
Understand what creates a great
passenger experience
tidiness which is noticed by all passengers visiting the
airport and makes a very good impression. High standards
of maintenance ensure that the facility remains in good
condition.
Ignore the terminal at your peril
Airports with the world’s worst passenger experiences
consistentlyfocusonprocessesandqueuestotheexclusion
of all else. The mistake here is a lack of understanding of
passenger psychology; passengers hate long queues or
poorly organized queues and will always mark an airport
down for them.
However the opposite of a long queue is no queue.
Passengers can’t love a queue that doesn’t exist because
they don’t notice it; they just have more time to appreciate
(or dislike) the terminal. Therefore, airports which focus
exclusively on queues and processes but not the terminal,
are doomed to have dissatisfied passengers whether their
queues are good or bad.
Similarly, staff may be an airport’s most important asset,
but most airport staff do not have contact with many
passengers. Those that do such as security and check-in,
generally do not have sufficient time with each passenger
to make a consistently great impression – although it is
easy to make a bad one.
area. Most passengers will not sit at a restaurant
or café if they are not purchasing (even if they are
theoretically permitted to do so).
4. Shops, restaurants and other distractions may bring
in money, but they don’t create a great passenger
experience unless guidelines 1 to 3 have been followed
first.
5. It is very difficult, and rare for a great airport ambience
to be defined by the staff. Staff are an important part
of a great experience, but only define it on a few rare
or individual occasions. Conversely, it can be possible
for staff to define a negative passenger experience.

5. 4
The solution - optimising the passenger
experience
Make an honest assessment of your airport
The most important part of improving the passenger
experience is taking a fresh look at the passenger
experience and prioritizing correctly. It is important to
achieve excellence in many otherwise mundane activities.
The airport needs to understand which aspects need
improving and to what level. It often also means stripping
out clutter to allow the facility to operate as it was meant
to. This means assessing performance in a brutally honest
way.
It is very common that airport teams find it difficult to do
this effectively. Firstly because people are reluctant to
criticize colleagues (or management) and secondly because
airport staff tend to get used to the status quo. What you
see every day becomes the norm and goes unquestioned
even if those habits or behaviour would be unacceptable
elsewhere.
To get around this it may be worthwhile to invite an
external organisation to provide an assessment.
Focusonpassengerswithproblems,notprioritypassengers
Your airport teams need to relearn to see your airport as
an occasional flier does, but with the insight of an airport
professional. The key is to perform the basics at a very
high standard and not to accept poor performance.
Frequent fliers (although they are more vocal with criticism)
have few problems navigating an airport and tend to spend
a lot of time in lounges. Occasional fliers are the ones that
tend to experience issues. It is vital to see the problems
and issues from the perspective of someone seeing the
airport for the first time and adjust accordingly.
Basic problems should be fixed, not patched. For example
if you have to station staff at decision points to help
passengers, your signage is not working and should be
changed.
2. Staff pride - giving staff purpose and incentivizing a
customer focused frame of mind
Create initiatives for lasting change
We recommend a systematic approach and creating 4
initiatives.
We believe these initiatives are in descending order of
importance. By far the most important initiative is the
fundamentals of the terminal itself. All passengers see the
terminal and make an opinion of it. Therefore getting the
basics right is the first step.
Second is staff pride, making the staff proud of their
airport and ensuring high standards. This includes not just
frontline staff, but particularly cleaning and maintenance
as their work is on show more than anyone else’s. Shop
and restaurant staff are also very important.
The processes and queues are obviously a major part of
the experience, but only if they are bad…
Finally, the first 3 initiatives will make your airport good,
but to make it truly special or great, requires something of
excellence. There needs to be something that sticks in the
mind and gives the impression of uniqueness and quality.
This might be shops, restaurants, orchestra, ponds,
jungles, spas or a museum. Something has to be genuinely
special to stick in the passengers’ minds. It is not a
question of ticking a box, but creating a feeling of quality
that can influence other aspects and pervade throughout
the airport. A sense of place, of local culture can work,
but again it must be special and consistent throughout the
terminal. Tokenism is easily spotted and forgotten.
1. Terminal interior - light, cleanliness, condition,
colours, clutter, consistency
3. Processes / queues - minimizing the negative impact
of queues on the passenger experience
4. Touches of excellence - making the passenger
experience special and personal

6. 5
Working smarter, not harder, by
understanding the passenger experience
There is no one answer to creating a great passenger
experience or a great ambience. This is why many airports
struggle to make a dramatic change in the passenger
experience without building a new facility. There is a
tendency to try to work ever harder at the existing business
model, but this is unsustainable and tends not to show a
great difference.
To make a step change in performance, it is necessary to
make a step change in approach. This means prioritising
effectively, address the fundamental issues first and to
a high level and see the airport as your customers do,
create an outstanding experience for all different types of
passenger, not just those that like to shop.
Adopting this frame of mind helps operations directors
achieve significant improvements in satisfaction levels
without spending a lot of money. And reap the benefits of
an increase in non-aeronautical revenue that results from
an improved passenger experience.
Key questions to answer
To underlay these initiatives, some of the key
questions that need to be answered are:
Vital basics
• Does the airport pay enough attention to
detail? Everywhere?
• Are maintenance and cleaning standards high
enough to reach your desired level of service?
• Has the airport become untidy and full of
clutter?
• Has the original design ethos of the airport got
lost or confused over time?
• Do you need to reassess your standards and
management systems?
Important
• Are your staff operating at the right level for
your facility?
• Do your staff care enough to go the extra mile
and fix problems?
• Are there long queues at peak periods? Are
passengers stressed?
• Do queues exceed the marked areas?
• Are the gate areas fit for purpose?
• Is the wayfinding easy enough?
• Is commercial damaging the passenger
experience?
The final flourish
• Is there a good mix of retail and restaurants?
• Are the shops and restaurants different from
other airports?
• What makes this airport special?
For most airports it is possible to
significantlyimprovesatisfactionlevels
without spending a lot of money.

7. DKMA
Riant-Coteau 9
1196 Gland
Switzerland
+41 22 354 07 54
www.dkma.com
About DKMA
DKMA helps over 300 airports around the world identify
areas of underperfomance and get the most out of existing
facilities; so they can maximise satisfaction levels.
DKMA Airport assessments are 3 day visits to an airport to
identify quick wins. They are meant for airport operations
directors and terminal managers who want to learn what
needs to be done to improve satisfaction levels quickly.
For more information visit www.dkma.com
SERVICE QUALITY
ASSESSMENTS & AUDITS
For operations directors & terminal
managers who want to improve
satisfaction levels quickly
TRAINING & SERVICE
QUALITY ADVISORY
For airport leaders who want a
detailed strategy for improving
satisfaction levels
PASSENGER
RESEARCH
For airports who want to simplify their
market research & lower costs
Helping airports maximise satisfaction levels