The best seat in the house
We founded DKMA in 2006 on the simple idea that if airports want to earn more they need to provide a better experience for their passengers. Together with ACI, we launched the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) initiative to help airports improve customer service levels through benchmarking. At that time, and with only just over 60 airports taking part the idea that customer service should play a central part in an airport’s strategy was far from mainstream.
Some 7 years and 250 airports later, things have changed quite a lot and we have been lucky to directly witness the airport industry go through this metamorphosis. Airports have gone from simple transportation hubs with the bare minimum in terms of facilities to near shopping malls offering a wide range of services aiming to make the passengers’ lives better. Customer service is definitely here to stay.
The million dollar question
During all these years, airports around the world kept asking us the same question: “What should I do to make my passengers happier”. Never ones to be afraid of a challenge, we set out on a quest to understand what defines a great airport experience.
Luckily enough we travel too (a lot actually) and since we regularly find ourselves visiting airports as passengers we decided to put that time to use to catalogue all of the great things we saw along the way. We found many answers: some airports are great because they are so entertaining and exciting that you just want to keep on discovering, some feel warm and welcoming like visiting a friend’s home and others are great because they are so efficient it makes travelling seem easy all over again.
While we saw and continue to see many examples of what a great airport can be, we also saw many cases of airports seemingly doing all the right things but them just not working out. It turns out that finding the answer to THE question isn’t so easy.
There is no secret recipe
Our AHA! moment came when we realized that the reason why it is so hard to create a great airport experience is that it can’t simply be done through working harder. What it takes is something much more profound that than. What it takes is a change in the way an airport thinks and acts, to focus first on the passenger and putting their needs first before the airport’s. What it takes is a change in mentality.
While there is no secret recipe or magic formula, there are some ground rules and some things work better than others. That’s what this blog is all about: trying to identify what works when it comes to making an airport great and sharing these ideas to hopefully inspire you and your airport to try to change the way you do business.
It’s a work in progress so we want to hear from you. Talk to us! Challenge us! Share your experiences with us and tell us what works and doesn’t work for you. Let us know what is great about your airport and others you have been to. Join us on this journey!
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