Airport commercial revenues in the time of the digital shopper

Digital disruption has become an increasingly important factor in the previously relatively protected environment of airport commercial revenues. There are a considerable number of airports that see this as a threat and not an opportunity. The challenge is to master the secret of change and optimise operations and airport company culture to flex to this coming new era, which, in some cases, is already here. This paper will examine current non-aeronautical revenue streams and their individual strengths and weaknesses. It will show that the current status has reached a peak and that new challenges are eroding the growth potential of the current models, which is particularly evident in the developed markets. Additionally, the paper will explore how airports’ customers have evolved. Today’s customer expectations have grown and the key to future success is to continue to innovate to meet those expectations. It will take lessons from the outside world, from businesses that are successful disrupters and those businesses keeping pace, and apply these to the airport world to demonstrate how to meet those changed customer expectations. Fundamentally it will reach a conclusion on what airports are, who their customers are and what role airports and their non-aeronautical revenue should play in the future. Ultimately this paper’s purpose is to articulate a vision on how commercial offerings can now capitalise on the era of e-commerce, not simply to maintain competition with it, by rediscovering the secret of change.