Airport Experience® News - Pre-Conference Issue 2026

Left: Philadelphia International Airport welcomed visitors from around the world for several matches in the 2025 FIFA World Cup, and will also help host the 2026 World Cup. Below: Vancouver International Airport has considerable experience welcoming massive crowds to the airport and city, having previously hosted The Grey Cup football tournament, Taylor Swift concerts, the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 and the 2010 Winter Olympics. The city will host several matches of the 2026 World Cup.

PHL is preparing its facilities for this year’s events by continuing to upgrade its physical amenities, renovating its restrooms and adding new seating and charging capabilities to its terminals. The airport also plans to implement and expand several customer facing services such as adding volunteer navigators to provide wayfinding to new arrivals, employing the Department of Aviation’s Ambassador Program to engage with guests and support in-airport activations and offering customer service training sessions for the newly created PHL WORKS team (Welcoming, Ownership, Respectful, Knowledgeable, and Seeks to connect). “Our collective goal is to elevate the airport experience, offering meaningful interactions that make each guest feel welcomed, valued and appreciated,” says Douglas. Vancouver International Airport (YVR), which has previously hosted The Grey Cup football tournament, Taylor Swift concerts, the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 and the 2010 Winter Olympics, will host several matches at the 2026 World Cup. The airport has a long history of hosting global events, says Andy Margolis, YVR’s vice president of operations and COO.

Margolis notes that in order to accommodate increased passenger traffic, “which can soar anywhere from five to as much as 15% in the days before, during and after an event,” YVR assembles cross-functional teams who are experts in facilitation, emergency management, baggage, maintenance and communications. Those teams work alongside federal agencies operating and external partners such as the Vancouver Host Committee to manage logistics. And at fellow World Cup host Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), “we’re applying insights and lessons learned from past events and sharing strategies with other host airports across the country as we prepare for the unique scale of this event,” as well as aligning closely with planning teams to meet service expectations for international guests and VIPs, says Sharon McCloskey, vice president of customer experience, adding that the airport plans to complete work on its International Parkway project before the start of the 2026 World Cup. They are also encouraging customers to use their DFW Airport App, preparing multilingual signage and implementing enhanced customer service support to ensure that “travelers feel comfortable and supported,” adds McCloskey.

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AX NEWS FEBRUARY 2026