On 20 February Max Schintlmeister, Managing Director of Airport Excellence, lectures on the relationship between aeronautical and non-aeronautical activities at the "Airport Economics and Finance Symposium" at the University of Westminster.   ...more...

2011 rushed by at the speed of light and, honestly, we wear sackcloth and ashes for rather neglecting this blog. It has been quite a while since our last blog post. To make up for this and with this year drawing to a close, this blog post is meant to update you on the main projects of Airport Excellence during 2011.    ...more...

I just had a look at some blog entries and discussion forums dealing with passenger needs at airports such as this one here. After having read a number of entries I really feel that there is a bit of a discrepancy between passenger wishes and airport offers.    ...more...

In November 2010 the Dublin Airport Authority opened its new terminal building. I had the chance to have a look at it when I waited for the departure of my flight to Barcelona. The terminal has a rather special design and the space allocation is quite different compared to most other terminals: check-in is located on the ground level, the arrival area is found one level higher, and the entrance to the gates is on the third level. After passing the security checkpoints the passenger    ...more...

On December 2nd my flight to Dublin was delayed for more than six hours. So I had the chance to experience Barcelona Airport's Terminal 2 and its facilities in detail. The result of this involuntary self-experiment is the realization that nowadays there is one simple thing that many passengers miss once they need to spend more than two hours in a passenger terminal   ...more...

Surely everyone who uses airports knows this feeling of inner restlessness that sometimes arises when entering a terminal building - especially if it's unfamiliar yet. Where's my check-in counter? Will there be lines? Where's the security check and how long will it take to get through it? Will there be time left to head into the shops and have a coffee? Where's my gate and how long will it take for me to get there? Sometimes this restlessness disappears quickly because it's easy to find one's way. But now and again our concerns turn out to be justified because the terminal turns out to be a true labyrinth. Wayfinding is not only an essential aspect of the passenger experience in every terminal building, it is also an often underestimated factor when it comes to terminal efficiency and profitability.   ...more...

We were once asked for innovative ideas for airports to generate higher revenues. Here's what we think. Basically, we see two different ways airports could go. The first is practicable for every airport. We call it the "Total Revenue Approach". This approach doesn't distinguish between aviation and non-aviation revenues. It sees the passenger's revenue potential in total. Here the key to be able to provide the right infrastructure for the specific needs of a passenger is segmentation.    ...more...

During my tour of regional airports for a study on terminal buildings I also stopped at Luxembourg airport - and spotted a quite innovative solution for the design of the boarding gate counter there.    ...more...

On thursday I've read on the ATW daily newsletter that Ryanair is going to open its 6th base in Barcelona, meaning that Ryanair flies to another main Spanish airport after Madrid. At the same time Ryanair announced to discontinue its operation to and from Prague because the airport management isn't willing to reduce the airport fees.When comparing the airport fees of Barcelona and Prague for a typical 737-800 operation, the charges at El Prat airport are only 35% of those at Prague airport   ...more...

During my latest project we had a lot of discussions concerning signage and way finding in terminal buildings. We all take it as given but have you ever thought about the many different ways of colori   ...more...