A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN FULL SERVICE AIRPORT TERMINALS AND LOW COST CARRIER AIRPORT TERMINALS: PASSENGER EXPERIENCE

Abstract

Airports need to up their game and achieve a competitive advantage over others through delivery of a higher level of passenger experience. The aim of the study is to provide guidelines for airport operators to improve passenger experience through better airport terminal design and airport management and operations practices, and guide them towards becoming world-class airports and global passenger hubs. The objectives of the research are to examine how airport terminal design and operations can impact on passenger experience, identify key differences between traditional full service airports and low cost carrier terminals in terms of passenger experience, and to propose solutions to improve passenger experience such as to overcome any negative perception of passengers about airport terminal design. The research design involves airport observational studies and a two-phased passenger experience questionnaire. The research findings identified three key significant differences between the full service airport terminal and low cost carrier terminal with respect to passenger experience, in areas of security checkpoints, airport amenities and wayfinding. The proposed solutions sought to overcome drawbacks of airport terminal design in these three areas, by providing more airport facilities to improve passenger experience, by reducing the number of passenger processing points at the airport terminal itself, and to increase the required processing time period at the airport terminal.