By improving the customer experience, designers, airlines and operators can optimize the long-term success of airport terminals.
Excerpted from Passenger Terminal World:
“Around the world, many airports have taken a piecemeal approach to their ongoing development. Because these facilities have been stitched together over time, they don’t reflect their communities, lack experiential continuity, and often leave passengers and visitors with a less-than-memorable experience. As airports consider redevelopment alternatives, they have an opportunity to recreate these spaces into vibrant destinations that provide a unified, positive customer experience and serve as an appropriate gateway to cities and regions.”
“Transforming the character of an airport requires not only a strong vision but also the unified will to bring that vision to life. As an example, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s active participation has been key in driving the comprehensive redevelopment of LaGuardia Airport.”
“As designers, HOK’s role is to create spaces and sequences that support the whole range of customer types, whether they are individual business travelers, small groups of leisure passengers or large families.”
“Designers, airlines and operators can greatly improve the customer experience through smart strategies that facilitate intuitive movement, support ease of use and embody the culture and character of cities. Passengers and visitors will then spend more money, communicate positively about their experience and feel compelled to return.”
“As an industry, we can no longer think in terms of terminal facilities that last 30 to 40 years. Instead, we need to be planning and designing for useful lives of 75 to 100 years. Transportation facilities like Grand Central Terminal in New York City prove that this aspiration is achievable. Despite the emerging viability of alternative delivery methods such as public-private partnerships, the immense challenges of planning, financing and completing these large capital projects demand that we take the long view.”