We know airports
The aviation industry is where economic prosperity meets technological advancement, design, and customer experience. Employing almost 12 million people around the world, it is undergoing profound change and will be at the very center of the energy transition and ongoing global growth.
At the Dar Group, we are proud to partner with the world’s leading airports. We have planned, designed, constructed, and innovated over 300 airports across six continents, from large international hubs to specialized support facilities. Our expert specialists cover every possible service within the airport environment – more than anyone else.
Berta Fernandez
Airport Planning & Development
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Modernizing terminals
Never before has the aviation sector undergone so much disruption. Markets and changing and so are passenger behaviors. Customer experience has never been as crucial as it is today and processes will need to become increasingly efficient and convenient. Terminal planning and data-driven design incorporating new technologies, such as biometrics, digital applications, immersive technologies, robotics and autonomous vehicles, will become central to future strategies.
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global leader in the planning, design and delivery of airports
01
At a glance
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What we do
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What's next for aviation
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Meet our team
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What's next for aviation?
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Designing for the ‘transumer’
Passengers have a different mindset to those in a shopping mall. Travelling consumers, or 'transumers', have distinct requirements. In response, future commercial masterplans must blend traditional retail with ‘customer recruitment’ space. The latter being an e-commerce connected, brand experience-driven area that engages with consumers before, during and after their visit.
Accessing new revenue streams
As the sector continues to rebuild, accessing funding for development and operations will be a challenge. New routes to revenue that support a rapidly evolving market will be needed. Those who boast a holistic strategy to maximize tenant fees in the short and long term will see the quickest growth.
Taking action on net zero
Over 2 percent of human induced CO2 comes from aviation. If the sector is to play its part in achieving net zero by 2050, we will need to see a reduction in carbon intensity of around 40% within 13 years. Continued R&D into commercially viable biofuels and hydrogen technology will expand. So, too, will the application of existing energy technologies such as solar and geothermal generation in airports, feeding the microgrid.
Preparing for the unknown
In unpredictable times, precise planning and building resiliency deliver clear dividends. Whether natural disasters or pandemic shutdowns, airports need clear, well-communicated strategies that pre-empt any potential issues and enable rapid responses to minimize loss and disruption.
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We have worked with
10
of the top airports in
NORTH AMERICA
#1
International
design firm in airports
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Gary Gibb
Airport Planning & Development
Ibrahim Ibrahim
Customer Experience &
Revenue Optimisation
Joe Barden
Terminal Planning,
Architecture & Design
Rick Waters
Civil Engineering
Carole Aramouni
Architecture & Design
Chris Runde
Digital Technology
Tim Risbridger
Project Execution
Jamie Boyd
Fueling Facilities & Energy Transition
Paul Fitch
Project & Cost Management
Elias Nehme
Infrastructure Design & Engineering
Carl D'Silva
Architecture & Design
Dar Group Aviation Market Leader
Whatever the challenge and wherever the need, our specialist businesses combine to provide state-of-the-art, tailored solutions that span the entire lifecycle of an airport.
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Author of "Happy Journeys" featured in Passenger Terminal Today, Showcase 2021
Authored the book "Future Ready Retail" published in June 2022
Click to read more about Aviation at Dar Group
Traveling consumers
Retail preferences and traveller habits are now totally unrecognisable from the time when most commercial airports were first built. To succeed in today’s market, offerings must be as convenient and stress-free as possible.
On top of this, the pandemic has had a profound effect on passenger behavior, typically translating into a wariness of crowds for an extended duration.
Pre-Covid, airports were already moving away from using holdrooms as a dominant waiting space. Efforts were underway to spread customers out, engaging them better through new services and amenities.
However, the crisis is accelerating this trend. What is needed now is a variety of new spaces to cater for three distinct passenger types: the camper, roamer and explorer.
Today’s consumer expects a range of service options in addition to conventional delivery to lounges, gates or arrivals. To keep pace, airports should consider more personalized geolocated delivery anywhere in the terminal either in person or via automation. In the future, consumers will expect goods to be delivered into the trunk of their car parked at the airport, which they will be able to open remotely from wherever they are.
A luxury fulfilment experience is another future option. A concierge-type offering in a lounge setting that showcases branded products and services while delivering a customer's goods directly to them as part of a premium hospitality experience would appeal to all three passenger types.
The no-nonsense passenger. Aims to get checked in quickly, breeze through security, and head directly to the airline lounge or departure gate.
The most typical passenger type. On an eventual mission to their gate, they are more likely to take time to grab something to eat, shop, or both.
These passengers are natural navigators and curious adventurers. Usually travelling alone, they love airport terminals and explore multiple areas and taking advantage of diverse offerings.
CAMPER
ROAMER
EXPLORER
Transumers
Airport passengers have a very different mindset than when they are on the main street or in shopping malls. They engage with brands in a very different way in airports, so we refer to them as 'transumers' or traveling consumers.
Transumers are often in an unfamiliar environment, they can be disoriented and stressed. They may also be over-excited, and adrenaline driven.
The extent of these behaviors varies by the three passenger types – campers being the most stressed and explorers the most excited. Furthermore, research shows that many passengers find the airport commercial offerings boring, uninspiring and uniform.
To gain the attention of the transumer, the commercial experience must evolve. It must deliver surprise, constant newness and serendipity, along with good value and convenience.
Airport retailers, brands and food and beverage operators must design their offers to meet the physical and emotional needs of the transumer. Airports have the opportunity to deliver new experiences, ideas and brands that differ from shopping malls by communicating clearly and accommodating those with baggage.
Consumer recruitment
In the future, completing transactions will consume less of the physical retail space. Increasingly, brands will use the airports to recruit customers, then driving them to e-commerce sites or social media platforms. The future airport commercial masterplan will shift from transactional retail space to customer recruitment space.
The former will be more conventional, with fixed units segmented into retail categories, However, the latter will take the form of a stage set or exhibition space, which would appeal to both roamers and explorers.
To deliver the experiences that recruit customers, space will need to accommodate event- driven experiences that are blended with food, wellness, entertainment, social and dwelling spaces.
The transumer journey will become increasingly elastic. Brands will need to engage with customers along the whole journey – before, during and after the airport visit. Mobile connectivity and engagement will be the glue that binds a continuous journey experience.
Airports have the potential to become amongst the most powerful and effective media platforms around. This new approach greatly changes the planning and design of the terminal. It also has the potential to reduce capital and operating expenses as modular, open-cell, programmable spaces are more cost-effective.
All in all, terminal concourses have the greatest potential for transformational design interventions. To take true advantage of changing consumer habits, the key is to really understand who is using the space and what motivates them.
Each airport will have a specific passenger profile. Planners will need to use targeted passenger surveys to understand each airport's unique mix of the three passenger types and how they want to experience their surroundings.
By getting the right balance between transaction and recruitment spaces in commercial zones, airports will have the ability to maximize revenues and improve customer satisfaction.
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Reflecting on last week’s Aviation World Conference in Paris, it’s fair to say that there has never been a more exciting or challenging time to be working in the aviation industry.
Net zero was, quite rightly, front and center of most discussions. The sector needing to reduce carbon intensity 40% in just over a decade will shape the industry in a way that could make it unrecognizable from what we know today.
Whilst the technology appears to be a long way off, one of the most interesting presentations was from Airbus on the exciting prospect of hydrogen planes. It’s easy to focus on the technology within the aircraft themselves when potential breakthroughs are made like this. But the ramifications for future airport design – considering hydrogen storage, distribution and refuelling – is almost as big a challenge. If this ‘jet zero’ technology progresses and is proven, it’s something we’ll all need to give some significant thought to and in the meantime, how do we future proof for new aircraft types?
One area that I felt needed more focus is the desperate need to understand what the travelling public want more. A phrase that I kept hearing was that we need to ‘make aviation sexy again’ but few really explained what that should look like.
The traveller of today (let alone the traveller of tomorrow) is a wildly different prospect to those who were flying when the majority of terminals were built. Demographics have changed, expectations have changed but all too often what’s on offer at the airport hasn’t.
But, for me, at the heart of it is better understanding what passengers and employees want and how to use technology to give it to them. In an industry that has suffered such huge financial losses, it is arguably the most cost-effective way to safeguarding the commercial future of the sector.
Any skills gap will long outlast any economic downturn. Even before the global financial crash we were having conversations around the need to hire people with different skills and keep them within the industry. The impact of Covid, coupled with all the complexities of geo-pollical uncertainty, has only exacerbated this.
Throughout the conference there were a huge number of discussions to this effect. There’s no doubt that – as is evidenced by the current issues being experienced in many UK airports – it has the potential to create real issues for operators.
There is no easy answer to this but it seems as if the environment we provide to those who work in terminals could be improved. Better designed and experience-focussed areas for staff, together with the more extensive roll out of digital twin and immersive technologies for training would both improve the employee experience and improve efficiency. Many other industries are alive to these challenges and are acting on it – it would be great to see the aviation sector do the same.
We are seeing it in urban leisure and retail but not enough is being applied to aviation. Within three years, Generation Z will represent over a quarter of the workforce and are quickly becoming the dominant culture and consumer group. Those who have never known a world without digital technology and social media expect something very different.
The future airport commercial masterplan must shift from purely ‘transactional’ retail space to also focus on customer recruitment. This means showcasing brands and experiences, engaging with customers along the whole journey – before, during and after the airport visit, and driving them to e-commerce sites and social media platforms.
Airports have the potential to become amongst the most powerful and effective brand platforms around. This new approach greatly changes the planning and design of the terminal. Central to the success of this is prefabricated, modular design that can be adapted to flex quickly and respond rapidly to customer trends and the desire for ever-changing experiences. By having flexibility built into the masterplan, airports could adapt to suit any changing need or trend and commercialise it quickly.
There is no doubt about it, workplace technology is the new competitor to business travel. With the gains seen since 2020, tech firms are not going to stand still – their products will dramatically improve. Aviation must seriously embrace innovation, by focussing squarely on radically improving convenience and connectivity.
It’s no coincidence that this year’s Skytrax Airport of the Year is Hamad International in Doha. Digitally enabled amenities throughout the terminal and the ultra-convenient, high-tech train quickly taking passengers through the terminals, in essence, gives passengers precisely what they want – a smoother, quicker and a better experience. This should act as a benchmark to all airports.
On top of this, digital twins – which are commonly used in staff training, are rarely adopted to improve passenger experience. This is a missed opportunity. For a relatively modest outlay, operators can better understand their facilities and how passengers interact with them, resulting in better planned spaces and more opportunities for retail and leisure.
Digital twins also open up facilities to embrace future advances in immersive technologies, rather than waiting to play catch up when the like of XR are widely adopted.
Get into the mind of the passenger
Big tech is both friend and foe
Flexible design for a demanding customer
Technology and what the customer of today is thinking must be at the front of aviation’s Great Reset.
Employees are customers too
Tim Risbridger has over 30 years’ experience working in Infrastructure, Transportation, Property, Water and Marine sectors. He has led multi-national and multi-disciplinary teams on some of the world’s largest and most demanding projects and is responsible for the transformation and growth of businesses across Asia and the Middle East.
Meet the Author
Tim Risbridger
Business Development Asia Pacific, Dar Group
Tim.Risbridger@dargroup.com
READ Tim's blog about his recent attendance at the Passenger Terminal Expo in Paris
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