Note: This was originally posted in the Airport Experience® News magazine and can be accessed here.
Airports are already becoming easier places to buy a meal. Mobile ordering lets a passenger browse menus, pay from a phone and collect an order without standing in another line. LAX, PHL, SEA and others have all built versions of that experience. It is useful, especially when every minute between security and boarding matters.
But mobile ordering is still mostly a digital version of the same transaction. The passenger does the searching. The menu is largely the same for everyone. The promotion is usually broad. The next step is not simply more technology. It is better relevance.
That next step is no longer theoretical.
At Istanbul Airport, operator iGA has used passenger behavior, transactions and stated preferences to deliver timely offers through its mobile app. A traveler booking a long-haul flight might receive a baggage-wrapping offer. Someone who paid for parking could see a relevant valet or airport-pass message. In a case study published by its technology partner SAS, iGA reported a 15 percent increase in revenue and a 13 percent increase in participation in its iGA Pass service.
At Mumbai International Airport, Ospree Duty Free and Voiceback Analytics built a promotion engine that uses purchase history and current store promotions to deliver individualized offers through SMS, WhatsApp and the web. A Microsoft case study reports that the program increased customer conversion by 22 percent.
The examples are vendor-reported, and airports should still ask hard questions about attribution. But the direction is clear. Personalization can move beyond engagement metrics and affect conversion, participation and revenue.
The building blocks are also becoming more visible in the United States. LAX Order Now began as a unified mobile marketplace for restaurants across multiple terminals. The airport later added Connecta, a platform intended to bring food and beverage, retail and services into a single point of engagement, analyze customer behavior and support real-time loyalty and marketing offers. That required Los Angeles World Airports, its commercial developer, concessionaires and technology providers to work together. The platform matters, but the partnership model matters just as much.
Boston Logan recently offered another glimpse of where this is heading. The airport is piloting Amelia, an AI-powered holographic concierge that provides conversational wayfinding, live maps and TSA wait times, with an option to connect to a human customer-service agent. The initial service includes English, Spanish and French, and its underlying platform can support additional languages. Amelia is not yet proof of commercial return. It is proof that airports can combine live operating information, conversational AI and human support in one passenger-facing experience.
Put those pieces together and a different kind of airport relationship becomes possible.
Imagine a traveler landing at 7:15 in the morning with a connection three gates away. With the traveler’s permission, a digital marketplace could use arrival gate, departure gate and boarding time to surface two nearby breakfast options that can be prepared before boarding. A frequent traveler could see the coffee order she regularly buys. A parent traveling with young children could ask for a family-friendly option within a five-minute walk.
The point is not to send more offers, but to reduce cognitive load. A passenger with forty minutes before boarding does not need fifteen ads. That passenger needs to know what is nearby, what fits the available time and what is likely to be useful right now.
The commercial value follows from that usefulness. Concessionaires get a better chance to reach the right customer instead of relying only on foot traffic. Airports can spread demand across terminals, support local operators and grow non-aeronautical revenue. Strategic brand partners can participate in moments that fit a real need rather than paying for impressions that may not lead anywhere.
This is especially relevant in beverages because demand changes so much by context. A morning commuter wants speed and consistency. A family on a long layover may want a comfortable place and kid-friendly choices. An international leisure traveler may be open to a premium or destination-themed experience. The same passenger may want something completely different on the return trip.
The hardest part will not be the recommendation algorithm. Airport commerce is fragmented by design. The airport, airlines, concessionaires, technology providers and brand partners each control different parts of the passenger journey. If every participant builds a separate app, loyalty program and data set, the passenger still experiences silos.
A better model starts at the airport level. The airport can establish the shared marketplace, consent rules and participation standards. Concessionaires can contribute menu availability, preparation times and transaction data. Airlines can provide relevant flight context when passengers opt in. Brand partners can help fund and design offers that are useful to travelers and workable for operators.
That does not mean every airport should attempt a fully connected system on day one. Start with a few practical use cases. Recommend options based on gate, time and walking distance. Let travelers save dietary preferences or favorite orders. Test a small number of dynamic offers tied to daypart, weather or destination. Measure conversion, average check, repeat use and passenger satisfaction. Keep the features that improve the journey and remove the ones that merely create noise.
Trust has to be designed in from the beginning. Travelers should know what information is being used and why. Participation should be voluntary. The fastest way to lose the opportunity is to confuse personalization with surveillance.
The premier airport beverage program of 2030 will not be defined only by what is available in the terminal. It will be defined by how well the airport and its partners understand the passenger’s moment and respond to it. The groundwork is already being laid. The opportunity now is to connect it.
Related Resources:
MRM Magazine Feature — The New Economics of Fountain Soda
10 Ways to Customize Beverage Partnerships for Your Airport
Why Airports Are Implementing Pouring Rights Now
