Airport Experience® News -Customer Service Issue 2026

Left, Below: Play9 Studios’ installations at MCO offer a marriage of digital and physical customizable play spaces. The digital aspect is important given the enhanced need for safety in the airport environment, a company official says.

Bespoke Solutions Play space-specific concessions operators have also gotten into the game. Companies like Tru Roots Airport Play Café are pitching educational, Montessori-inspired wooden structure play spaces designed to keep kids engaged and parents sane on long travel days. “We are parents – anyone who travels with kiddos knows we need a place for one,” says founder Rikki Underwood of her experience navigating the airport with co-founder JaMarcus Underwood and their young children. Underwood, who alongside her team is currently pitching Tru Roots concepts for potential installation via dedicated, lounge integrated, branded, co-branded and white-label models, hopes that airports will see the value of including clean, accessible spaces made to entertain children from 0-12. “Every airport understands the need, they see the need transparently, it just falls [to them] to consider revenue generation [opportunities] of it,” adds Underwood. The Tru Roots model offers timed, supervised play while parents relax or dine nearby within the same buildout. The vision also includes grab-and-go and merchandise options. Tru Roots recently advocated for RFPs to focus on family-friendly amenities.

“How does this concept improve the experience for families? Does it reduce operational strain during delays and extended dwell times? Can it adapt as passenger needs evolve over time? We’re advocating for intentional family hospitality, supported by passenger behavior, family travel research, and flexible infrastructure that meets airports where they are.” Other companies like Play9 Studios , the Australia-based play space firm, offer a marriage of digital and physical customizable play spaces and have broken out of the mall circuit and into airports like London Heathrow International Airport (LHR) and Orlando International Airpor t (MCO). “It was a very natural evolution,” says CEO Tanya Michaelides of the jump to airports. “The challenge with airports is that [a play space] can’t just look like nice furniture and be done. It needs to be smarter than that. It needs to be easier to install. It needs to be able to tire kids out, entertain them, and be really, really safe, because the last thing airports can have to deal with is kids falling and hurting themselves – which is natural [and] in any environment can happen, but the knock-on effect in an airport is huge. The flight is delayed, luggage has to come off, and so forth,” she adds.

Airports “like the digital aspect. It’s low play, it’s safe,” says Michaelides. “It’s playful without needing the big play space, it offers passengers that experience of play and respite and adds to the overall experience of travel. Because travel as a family starts from the minute you get to the airport.” Airports also appreciate Play9’s platform customization features, adds Michaelides. “It means that they can change games so it can be seasonal – for example from Halloween to an underwater theme, so that way it always feels fresh and alive.” For play space operators to find success in airports, offering an easy-to-install concept is key, says Michaelides. “You don’t have the luxury of a new build or a shopping mall where you can just close off a section for a month,” she adds. “We understand the pressure on the airport, and so we’ve launched a new range called Pop Play, and

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AX NEWS OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2026