People: How passenger behaviour is redefining airports
The Future of Airports: Airports need people, but do people need airports?
The aviation industry’s recovery within five to six years of the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates remarkable resilience. Yet as passenger numbers return to pre-pandemic levels, the sector faces a more fundamental challenge than any single crisis: a structural shift in how passengers perceive and engage with air travel. With growth projections uncertain and societal expectations evolving, airports stand at a critical juncture. Success in the coming decades will require moving beyond volume-driven revenue models to embrace adaptability – building business strategies resilient to changing passenger behaviours, environmental pressures, and market dynamics rather than relying on throughput alone to drive profitability.
This article examines how shifting passenger expectations are transforming airports from transactional transit points into experiential destinations. We will trace this evolution through three critical phases of the passenger journey: the decision to travel, the landside arrival experience, and the airside environment; revealing where airports must innovate to remain competitive and financially sustainable.
The need to travel
Passenger recovery masks deeper structural shifts
Global air travel in 2024 matched or exceeded pre-pandemic levels across all regions, with revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) surpassing 2019 figures by 3.8%. This recovery highlights a continuing human need for connection, mobility and experience. Yet these headline figures mask underlying volatility – several indicators suggest the industry faces headwinds that aggregate growth data alone cannot capture.
Pre- and Post-COVID revenue passenger kilometre growth rates
External pressure in mature markets is slowing growth forecasts
While emerging economies are driving global aviation expansion, mature markets are confronting stagnating demand. Several structural factors are challenging mature markets, such as:
Physical and political constraints
There is limited ability to expand and develop airports through construction of new terminals and runways
Extensive transport network
Mass transit, such as rail, is a viable alternative to air travel for shorter distances
Business travel decline
Financial constraints and normalisation of vir- tual meetings have reduced corporate travel demand
Economic pressures
Whilst inflation and rising cost of living does not currently appear to be impacting leisure travel, it remains a real risk
Sustainability pressure
Significant public pressure on corporations and individuals to reduce air travel, in a move- ment colloquially referred to as “flight shaming”
Emerging policy changes
Governments are considering policies to limit mass tourism in places such as Barcelona, Amsterdam and Venice
Airports and airlines have been proactively finding solutions. For example, KLM has partnered with rail operators to offer integrated rail travel for transport between adjacent countries such as France, Belgium and Germany, and Air France and Austrian Airlines have both agreed to limit flights where extensive rail services exist.
Necessity and access drive aviation growth in emerging markets
Emerging economies demonstrate more robust growth trajectories, fuelled primarily by intra-regional connectivity. Three factors distinguish airport development in these markets:
- Development of national airports: To unlock global trade and tourism opportunities, countries are developing iconic global and regional air travel hubs
- Upgrading of ageing infrastructure: Rather than greenfield development, upgrades of existing airports and supporting infrastructure will increase capacity
- Development of smaller airports as a necessity for connecting cities and intra-country travel where other options do not exist.
Across much of Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa, air travel represents necessity rather than luxury. Vast distances, challenging terrain and archipelagic geographies leave few viable alternatives to aviation for connecting populations and economies. This reality creates dual development imperatives: first, expanding networks of regional airports serving low-cost carriers linking secondary cities cost-effectively; second, replacing aging, capacity-constrained infrastructure in established hubs that can no longer support projected demand or national development ambitions.
Accuracy has been working with an existing Middle Eastern airport on the structuring of a PPP contract to develop a new aviation fuel farm (AFF) as a part of critical infrastructure upgrades to meet the future passenger and flight projections. The PPP model is beneficial in as it allows transfer of risk to the private sector (particularly O&M), reduces the upfront capital requirement for the airport and allows for more competitive pricing of fuel. The airport will also benefit from an income stream from each litre of fuel sold to the airlines.
Leisure travel recovery may create new commercial opportunities
The composition of air travel is fundamentally shifting globally. Understanding and catering to this shifting demographic is crucial for airports planning their future commercial strategies, as seen below.
- Business travel continues to decline due to increased acceptance of video conferencing and remote working that have become normalised post-pandemic. This shift has significant implications for airports historically designed around the needs of time-sensitive business travellers who valued efficiency over experience.
- Leisure travel is rebounding strongly. Driven by a growing middle class in emerging economies, these passengers have different expectations. They are more price-sensitive but also more likely to spend more time in airports and use the amenities when given compelling reasons to do so.
- Visiting friends and relatives consequence of an ever more open world, this segment is probably facing long term increase in traffic although this traffic is sensitive to price including those incurred at airports.
From your front gate to the airport gate
The airport experience begins long before passengers reach the departures terminal. The journey encompasses everything from transport connections to the airport, curb-side drop-off, and the critical security and compliance checks that have historically defined the airport experience.
Ride-hailing and rail links challenge airport revenue models
The rise in ride hailing services (such as Uber in the US and UK and Grab across Asia) is posing a challenge to the airport. Airports have not yet found a solution to recover revenues lost from the convenience of passengers paying for ride hailing services rather than airport parking.
For mature markets particularly, airports must reimagine themselves as integrated transport nodes rather than standalone destinations. This means:
- Seamless connections with rail, metro and bus services
- Integrated ticketing and baggage handling across transport modes
- Real-time information systems that guide passengers across different transport options
- Physical infrastructure that eliminates the distinction between “airport” and “station“.
Overall these are enormous challenges for existing airports, and connectivity between transport modes is overall far from easy, with tortuous routes for pedestrian and even more for passengers with restricted mobility (PRM). Airports who will successfully position themselves as part of a broader mobility ecosystem in will be better positioned to capture future passenger flows. This may be in the form of investing in bus, metro or rail projects to connect cities to the airports, whilst collecting a share of revenue for tickets.
Seamless mobility is key to future competitiveness
A historically frustrating experience – characterised by long queues, manual processes, and multiple security checks – is being replaced by seamless, technology-enabled journeys. This transformation is driven by the following:
- Passenger expectations: Shaped by seamless digital experiences in other sectors. For example, retail, hospitality, banking
- Operational efficiency: As airports seek to handle more passengers through constrained physical infrastructure.
For example, shorter plane turnaround times - Enhanced environment and surroundings: Managing the airport facilities to creating the environment that passengers expect. For example cleanliness and operational lifts, escalators and people movers
- Security enhancement: Reduced requirements for physical checks through advanced screening technologies and biometric verification
- Data capture: Enabling airports to better understand and serve individual passenger needs.
Leading airports like Changi in Singapore have already pioneered many of the above, for example passport-less entry using facial recognition, automated baggage check-in, and integrated biometric systems that allow passengers to move through the airport with minimal friction. While the technology is widely available, varying levels of data protection sensitivity across countries make practical implementation challenging.
Spend time, spend money: the dwell-ness economy
The pursuit of efficiency has created an unexpected challenge: when passengers get used to moving through security and compliance processes quickly, they spend less time airside, reducing opportunities for commercial engagement for the airport.
The transformation of passenger expectations has profound implications for how airports monetize passenger presence.
Dwell time – the period spent between security and boarding – has evolved from a necessary waiting period into a valuable commercial opportunity, but only when airports successfully create engaging environments.
Engaging customer experiences turn dwell time into revenue growth
Research on U.S. airports reveals a direct and positive correlation between dwell time and non-aeronautical revenues, but with important nuances. A 10% increase in dwell time can lead to an 8% increase in food and beverage revenue and a 6% increase in retail revenue. However, this correlation is strongest when airports provide compelling reasons for passengers to engage with commercial offerings rather than simply wait.
Airports must therefore create compelling reasons for passengers to arrive earlier and engage longer, rather than simply arrive at the minimum check-in time.
Experience shows also the extreme dependence on luxury brands appetite for increasing the spent-per-passengers numbers, and the need to profile the shopping mall layout to suit the high-profile passengers destination gates ; numbers can vary 5-fold depending on the chosen layouts.
Transforming airports into premium wellness destinations
Forward-thinking airports should expand beyond tradi- tional retail and food & beverage offerings to embrace the growing wellness economy. We are seeing increas- ing offerings of wellness amenities including spas, gyms, yoga studios, meditation rooms, and even swimming pools. This shift recognises several key passenger trends:
- Long-haul fatigue and the desire to arrive refreshed rather than exhausted
- Health consciousness among travellers seeking to maintain wellness routines while traveling
- Premium experiences as a differentiator, particularly for airports competing for transfer traffic
- Rise of “bleisure” travel where business and leisure blend (i.e. bleisure), and passengers have time and willingness to invest in self-care as most of the cost of their travel is covered by their businesses.
These services are generally limited to hub airports which tend to have onward journeys of significant length, as opposed to “point-to-point” travel seen in the US and Europe. Airports like Singapore Changi Airport, Dubai International and Doha have led this transformation, creating destinations that passengers actively look forward to visiting rather than merely tolerating as a necessary inconvenience.
Creating destination value through local experiences and cultural programming
The most successful airports are those that create genuine destination value, reasons for passengers to arrive earlier, stay longer, and return more frequently. This includes:
- Cultural programming such as art installations and museums
- Local authentic experiences showcasing regional food, products, and culture
- Technology and innovation including gaming zones, VR experiences, and innovation showcases
- Productive spaces offering co-working facilities, meeting rooms, and business services
Some of the items listed above, particularly the wellness elements and working facilities, are aimed at business travellers rather than leisure, and are provided in executive lounges. The economical effectiveness of broadening the offering to the wider / general public is unproven.
The key is understanding that modern passengers, particularly leisure travellers, view time differently. They may be willing to invest time in experiences that deliver genuine value, entertainment, or wellbeing benefits.
Changi airport is a great example of this. The Jewel is the land-side shopping and entertainment venue attached to, and developed by the airport. Last year, more people visited the Jewel (80 million) than Changi handled passengers (68 million), making the airport a destination in its own right and capturing a different segment of the population. Part of the success of the Jewel is down to its extensive offering of over 260 retail shops and restaurants, the iconic indoor waterfall, lush gardens and proximity to the centre of Singapore, a short 20-minute drive.
Accuracy’s view
Air travel remains an integral part of modern society and a globally connected world. However, the role of airports within that system is evolving rapidly. Success will come to those airports that:
- Deeply understand their passengers through effective data collection and analysis
- Differentiate their offering based on their unique catchment, competitive position, and passenger mix
- Embrace their role in the broader transport ecosystem rather than operating as isolated entities
- Create genuine value for passengers beyond the basic function of getting people onto planes
- Balance commercial imperatives with sustainability responsibilities and community expectations.
The airports that will thrive in the coming decades are those that recognize they are no longer just infrastructure assets facilitating air travel. They are complex, multifaceted businesses serving diverse stakeholder needs, from passengers seeking seamless experiences to communities demanding environmental responsibility, from airlines requiring operational efficiency to investors expecting commercial returns.
The question “Do people need airports?” has a clear answer. Yes. Airports that can answer this question specifically for their own context will be the ones that remain relevant, resilient, and profitable in an uncertain future.
Nicolas Bourdon, Partner, Accuracy
Zaheer Minhas, Partner, Accuracy
Christy Howard, Partner, Accuracy
Joris Timmers, Partner, Accuracy
Julie Malzac, Director, Accuracy
Thierry de Séverac, Advisor, Accuracy