Airport Experience® News - Post-Conference Issue 2025

“because they do impact our revenues,” he said. To illustrate the issue, Schneider shared an experience operating a wine bar at Ottawa International Airport (YOW), built below a lounge. It was the worst performing one he’s ever built, he said, “because when you have free wine upstairs, you’re surely not going to stop down and pay for it if you’re a loyal traveler.” Schneider acknowledged the important role lounges play in the guest experience, but moving forward, collaboration will be key, he said. Panelist Nancy Knipp, president of Airport Dimensions , agreed. One potential method to meet the need could be through expanded technology, she said, including digital platforms that help passengers access food, retail, and services from anywhere in the terminal. Panelist Jaimini Erskine, vice president of marketing and concessions for Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority , suggested a platform that can help travelers at every point in their journey, from parking and boarding to concessions and beyond. Panelists noted, however, that multiple fragmented app offerings could be a barrier to success. Schneider also suggested a more direct method: concessionaires could collaborate by directly providing their food and beverage to lounges. “Another way is a partnership where you’re directing overflow,” Schneider said, “or you’re working with the lounge provider to where they’ll give a certain dollar amount to go to one of your restaurants as a partnership.” Barring closer collaboration, Schneider directed another suggestion toward airport leaders: “rent relief.” Maximizing Limited Space Terminal real estate remains a constrained resource, prompting lounges and concessions to compete for optimal locations. Finding adequate space often requires airports to get creative. “We can take areas that are not the most popular, don’t have the most footfall…,” Knipp noted. At Dulles International Airport (IAD), one recent strategy was placing a Capital One lounge inside an old air traffic control tower. The expectation was it wouldn’t impact concessions, but it was immediately always at capacity, Erskine said.

At some airports, such overflow has led to additional opportunities for collaboration, panelists noted. Hurley shared one method where lounges provide concessions vouchers for patrons they must turn away. “I know some lounge operators, before they even go into market, are trying to partner with concessions company or food beverage companies to take care of their guests that are in markets where they don’t have something,” Schneider said. “I think that’s a good start.” For airports, providing lounge space for different airlines and credit card operators can present an important competitive edge to win travelers regionally, Erskine explained. “If I have this amenity and it’s something premium for that premium passenger, maybe they’re just going to pick my airport over another one,” Erskine explained. Beyond passenger preference, lounges can also help attract new airline services that bring in additional travelers. “If you as an airport can offer them a lounge that you can use for those two flights or one flight a day that you’ve got,” Knipp noted, “they’re more apt to choose your airport... because now you have wide bodies coming in with customers that wouldn’t normally be in that airport.”

Above: Nancy Knipp of Airport Dimensions shared the lounge operator point of view.

Research and Data As the landscape changes, panelists agreed that thorough research and data will be essential. Knipp expanded on the potential for technology, noting that innovative usage could help level the playing field on customer data. Currently, the airlines have the most loyalty information, she said. It’s difficult for airports and concessionaires to get that information, Knipp added. But with a unified technology platform, “you’re getting the loyalty information about that customer. You’re learning who they are, what they like, their patterns.” As industry forecasts project travel to double in the next 10-20 years, panelists agree, the challenge will be ensuring that growth is managed in ways that benefit all stakeholders. “We have to figure out a way to work collaboratively together,” Schneider acknowledged, “because the passenger does want lounges.

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AX NEWS MAY 2025