Airport Experience® News - Food & Beverage Issue 2025

reward system. With various products accessible at different destinations, it entices members to explore new locations and unlock additional advantages across airports worldwide.” Song adds that this platform can support nearby concessions by offering exclusive discounts and joint promotions. “We also offer brand activation zones for our partners,” he adds. “For example, lounges can feature local products or exclusive retail experiences where passengers can experience the products in our lounges and then purchase them at the shops of our travel retail partners.” Like Airport Dimensions’ platform, PPG’s also allows lounge guests to order from airport restaurants or shops directly to their lounge seat. “We envision a future where the lines between lounge and concession blur – in the best way possible,” Knipp says. “Through technology and intentional design, lounges will serve as amplifiers of the broader airport experience. Imagine a traveler enjoying spa services, dining from their favorite local chef or discovering exclusive retail partnerships, all within or through the lounge experience. Collaboration, not competition, will define the next era of airport commercial success.” Song, too, believes the future holds “more transformative alliances” among airport stakeholders. “Major global players are collaborating more in enhancing operational efficiencies; they’re also expanding the airport marketplace into a vibrant hub where retail, food and beverage offerings, and hospitality experiences converge,” he says. “This dynamic approach not only fosters sustainable growth within the aviation sector but also diversifies non-aeronautical revenue streams, which are crucial for financial stability.” “Like I always say, it’s the same passenger that we all serve,” Song continues. “I believe that in the industry value chain, everyone has a role to play in enhancing the passenger experience – it’s a shared ecosystem. It’s important to work in collaboration, for the passengers and for the aviation industry.”

Right: Stephen Freibrun, senior principal at ICF, suggests airports should take concessionaires’ concerns into consideration and coordinate the opening of new lounges along with other concessions during the RFP process.

Freibrun also offers a solution that echoes Bisset’s hybrid approach tactic: “Existing concessionaires can provide food service to lounges as an additional revenue source, so if an airport does add in a lounge in the middle of a concessionaire’s agreement, there could be teaming opportunities that can offset that,” he says. Sullivan remarks on one such successful arrangement at PHL: “One of the partnerships we’re most excited about is between the Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club and Middle Child. Middle Child is a Philly-favorite sandwich shop that offers some of their sandwiches for order at the Chase Sapphire Lounge,” she says. “There’s also a Middle Child location under construction in Terminal D, only a concourse away from the lounge. Passengers can sample their sandwiches at the lounge and will soon be able to order from a more extensive Middle Child menu in the terminals.” Sullivan adds that she hopes to see solutions like this grow, as they also support the passenger experience. “As our lounge operators introduce more technology into the airport experience, we’re hopeful that lounge visitors will be able to curate their own menu, being able to enjoy the food and drinks at the lounge of their choice, while ordering from Chickie’s & Pete’s or Sabrina’s Cafe for their children or another family member.”

This is something Airport Dimensions has been working on. In 2020, the group introduced its Connecta digital platform and this year it launched an enhanced version called Connecta+. “Connecta+ is a comprehensive digital platform through which travelers can order from concession partners directly to their lounge location, discover retail opportunities across the airport and engage with services through a unified interface,” Knipp says. “This approach creates multiple value streams: passengers enjoy enhanced convenience and choice, lounges become service amplifiers rather than isolated spaces and concessionaires gain direct access to our high-value customer segment through new channels.” Also in 2020, PPG launched its own digital platform, Smart Traveller, which currently has more than one million members across the globe, according to Song. “With Smart Traveller, users can enjoy a dynamic and digitally-driven experience in a single platform, from lounge admission to earning points from our network of brands, affiliate lounges, airport service networks, travel partners and lifestyle brands, redeeming rewards and enjoying many member-exclusive benefits and perks,” he says. “The Smart Traveller marketplace offers a curated collection of more than 1,000 travel and lifestyle items that can be redeemed through the point

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AX NEWS JULY/AUGUST 2025