How Airport Dimensions Is Enhancing the Travel Experience

While many people working in aviation are contemplating an era of sustainable supersonic flights and electric planes, Mignon Buckingham is focused on how technologies can mitigate what is often the most stressful part of every air passenger’s journey—the period between leaving home and reaching the departure gate. She is optimistic, for instance, that there could soon be a single app that will enable travelers to plan their route to the terminal, zip through security, preorder a steak in a cushy booth, book a massage, and collect their online purchases prior to boarding. “There are many moving parts to juggle,” she admits, “but there is actually a lot of joined-up thinking now going on in this space.”

Airport Dimensions CEO Mignon Buckingham / Photo: Courtesy of Airport Dimensions

As CEO of Airport Dimensions—part of Collinson Group, owner of the world’s largest lounge-access program, Priority Pass—59-year-old Buckingham does a lot of juggling. She is tasked with enhancing passenger experience, boosting airport revenues and preserving the relative tranquility of lounges such as The Club, Club Aspire and No1.

Complicating things further, passengers are a capricious bunch. “If someone is traveling for business three times a week they may want quiet lounge space,” she explains. “If that same person is traveling with friends, they might want a leisurely lunch. Traveling with kids, they might prefer something else. There really is no such thing as a typical flyer.”

Clubroom at No1 Lounge, Birmingham Airport, England / Photo: Courtesy of Airport Dimensions

What has definitely emerged since the pandemic are new behaviors. Unsurprisingly, passengers have grown more accustomed to using digital services during their journey, just as they are in their everyday lives. At the same time, millennials and Gen Zers have pulled ahead as the primary drivers of airport spending.

To tap this potentially lucrative market, Airport Dimensions has created Connecta In-Lounge, a customizable digital platform that can be white-labeled for any airport operator. Currently being rolled out worldwide, it allows guests to order food and drinks, prebook shower facilities and access digital media. They can also order duty-free goods for delivery to the lounge, gate or home.

“This means that travelers can spend money when they are relaxed and have time to kill and airports are able to unlock new mobile and digital revenue streams,” says Buckingham. Apps also let users reserve lounge slots and get real-time availability alerts during crowded periods.

The Connecta platform acquired new bells and whistles at Los Angeles International Airport. Users of LAX Order Now can swipe and click their way through the entire airport, including several grab-and-go food offerings.

“Almost 70 percent of Gen Zers believe being able to preorder and collect food via an app would improve their airport visit, compared to just 25 percent of boomers,” says Buckingham. “Gen Zers also have a considerably greater desire to be entertained at the airport.”

Airport Dimensions has also partnered with the Oregon start-up Gameway, which is opening video-game lounges at several U.S. airports, on a 700-square-foot site at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Separately, it has linked up with the UAE company GameSpace to launch a similar, albeit supersized, venture at Dubai International Airport.

Another innovation Airport Dimensions introduced in Dubai and at Hamad International in Doha, Qatar, is the Sleep ’n Fly lounge, a concept that offers pods and cabins that passengers can rent by the hour. Locations are being explored across the Americas.

According to Buckingham, Americans are far more interested in the prospect of places to take a nap at airports than in many of the other amenities increasingly being dangled in front of travelers. “Stateside, interest in spending money on sleep facilities has grown by 17 percent year-over-year,” she says.

As multimedia zones and specialty food and drink offerings multiply, the traditional status-conferring spaces continue to thrive. In 2022, Airport Dimensions debuted the Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club, a co-venture with JPMorgan Chase, as a riposte to American Express’ elite Centurion Lounges, widely considered the pacesetter. Airport Dimensions also entered the South American lounge market in 2021, with the upscale Ambaar Lounge.

While prestige lounges promise ever higher levels of pampering, Buckingham is convinced that air travel is primed to become more enjoyable for everyone. “Many airport operators are exploring their own loyalty schemes, an area in which they have lagged far behind the airlines, hotel and retail sectors,” she says. “They’re finally waking up to the huge opportunity they have to drive sales simply by getting customers to share information about themselves. Younger travelers may be far less excited by frequent flyer programs than previous generations, but they may be motivated by access to spas or lounges or discounts on food, drink and entertainment.”

Buckingham’s favorite airport is the dinky, streamlined London City Airport. This, she says, is because it is a 30-minute drive from her home in southeast London, although she admits that whizzing through the single-terminal airport is a joy, considering that she spends approximately 120 days a year traveling.

London City is also 30 minutes from Collinson’s headquarters—a lofty floor of a glass tower with glorious views of the River Thames. Buckingham has worked for the group for more than 20 years. Before her current role, she was Collinson’s corporate strategy and development officer. Prior to that, she held senior client relationship positions at other global players, such as Hilton.

“Even now I love traveling, especially to new places, and I still genuinely find airports exciting,” she says. “My current role is especially rewarding because when I experience the same stresses and pain points as everyone else, I have the opportunity to help a range of stakeholders find solutions.

“Ultimately, though, nobody goes through life without any hitches,” she adds. “Like everything else, traveling is all about preparation—you have to hope for the best but prepare for the worst.”