Airport Experience® News - Food & Beverage Issue 2026

John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) Terminal 4 offers a glimpse of how holograms can serve cultural programming. As part of the terminal’s expanded T4 Arts and Culture Program, passengers encounter life-size holographic animals from the Bronx Zoo, including sloths, alligators, pelicans and warthogs, in an immersive installation developed in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society. The experience features Bronx Zoo director Jim Breheny alongside micro videos spotlighting terrestrial and marine animals and a short film about the Society’s global conservation work. The installation sits within a broader arts program at JFK T4 that includes murals, photography exhibits and employee-shot aviation photography, all aimed at giving travelers a genuine sense of place while they wait. Other airports are using holograms to serve as airport ambassadors. LaGuardia Gateway Partners, for example, in May introduced Bridget, a hologram ambassador powered by Proto Hologram and Holomedia AI, near the Terminal B Food Hall. The hologram gives travelers real-time directions to gates, concessions, lounges and baggage claim. Bridget is able to communicate in multiple languages and includes accessibility features such as high-contrast displays, closed captioning and a physical interface positioned for wheelchair users. A hologram ambassador is also being tested at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). The AI-powered hologram assistant, dubbed Ask IAH, has been deployed to help travelers in the airport’s Terminal E international arrivals area. The hologram can answer questions about flights, gates, baggage claim, restaurants Left Top: LaGuardia Gateway Partners recently introduced Bridget, a hologram ambassador that gives travelers real-time directions to gates, concessions, lounges and baggage claim. Credit: LaGuardia Gateway Partners Left Below: County singer Dierks Bentley appeared in holograph form at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, where he promoted ROW 94 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. The result was a surge in sales of the whiskey.

trust it more,” Nussbaum says. “This causes higher click-through, calls to action are more likely to be acted on, so it can educate and entertain, but it’s also generating revenue.” A Measurable Impact The revenue case has already been made at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF). ROW 94 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey approached the airport to place a life size hologram of country music star and brand founder Dierks Bentley in

the terminal. The display welcomed travelers, told the brand’s story and pointed them to exclusive product at Distillery District Marketplace. “The return of the hologram was facilitated directly through the airport’s advertising partner as part of a formal agreement, resulting in additional non-aeronautical revenue,” said Adam Thomas, vice president of airport properties and concessions at SDF. The commercial pull was tangible at the retail level too. “It was common for the signed bottles to sell out quickly when they were stocked at SDF,” Thomas said.

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AX NEWS JULY/AUGUST 2026