Airport Experience® News - ACDBE Issue 2026

DATA CHECK

SATISFACTION HEIGHTS Today’s Travelers Are Younger, Spend More And Are Happy With Their Airport Experiences

BY DAVID GORDON

Who Is The Affluent Leisure Traveler?

48% are members of airport loyalty or CRM programs vs 23% 70% are interested in buying duty free from the lounge vs 57% 78% always or sometimes purchase duty free

STRONG INTEREST IN NEW RETAIL CONCEPTS:

All comparisons vs non-ALT travelers

54% hold lounge program membership vs 27% 48% engage with

89% satisfaction with the airport experience vs 79% 75% are lounge users vs 52%

52% actively shop and enjoy the experience vs 25% 40% of spend is on retail vs 27%

42% higher average household income than non-ALTs 39 years old, slightly younger than non-ALTs (41) 60% more frequent travelers 52% of overall AX26 audience

49% walk through duty free 44% prefer hybrid retail 42% seek unique or exclusive products

26% of overall AX26 audience

28% of spend is on experiences vs 18%

airports digitally

Airport Dimensions’ 2026 Airport Experience Study

or the 12th consecutive year, Airport Dimensions has surveyed the global traveler, and

you look at the amount of funding going into American airports, there is projected to be over $100 billion of investment in the next 10 years,” he says. “Spending that in ways that are going to make a difference is the opportunity that lies before us.” The satisfaction story gets more complicated by age. Millennials and Gen Z report 84% satisfaction. Boomers land at 72%, with 9% outright dissatisfied. The travelers flooding airports today and spending the most while they are there skew younger, and airports that continue optimizing for older traveler expectations may find themselves chasing a shift they missed. Meet The ALT If there is one demographic airports should be designing around right now, it is the Affluent Leisure Traveler (ALT), the Airport Dimensions study revealed. ALTs represent just 26% of surveyed travelers but generates 57% of all reported airport spend.

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Global Airport Traveler Satisfaction

the 2026 edition arrives with a striking headline. Satisfaction is at an all-time high. The traveler coming through today skews younger, spends more and has shifted decisively toward leisure, and that combination is moving the needle in ways the industry has not seen before. “The great news is we’re going in the right direction,” says Chris Gwilliam, chief growth officer of Airport Dimensions, which conducted the study. “Customer satisfaction is the highest since we started this research, up from 62% in 2021 to 82% today.” Gwilliam shared the results in a AXiNsights webinar in late May. He revealed that the positive trajectory is global but unevenly distributed. Singapore Changi leads the world at 97% satisfaction. American airports sit at 76%, well behind APAC leaders but trending upward. Gwilliam sees the gap as a moment of opportunity. “When

82%

79%

71%

70%

62%

AX21

AX22/23

AX24

AX25

AX26

Airport Dimensions’ 2026 Airport Experience Study

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AX NEWS JUNE 2026