DUBAI AIRPORTS WILL BE IN THE WINNER’S CIRCLE

Our world is changing. According to OECD and IATA statistics, in Asia alone there will be 1.93 billion additional passenger journeys by 2034 (vs 2014). Accelerating urbanisation is supporting the importance of air travel, and in turn the concentration of population amplifies the relevance of intercontinental hubs. Airlines will continue to need to connect networks to give people the ‘from anywhere to anywhere’ service they demand. As a result, the creation and expansion the intercontinental hub will continue to play a vital role in the next two decades. To be successful, airports will need to make sure they invest sufficiently in cost-effective connection services to enable these network efficiencies to be realised in order to cater for the increased mobility created by the expansion of the middle classes. But even as this pressure mounts, scale cannot be the sole focus. Historically the approach to airport expansion has been all about building stuff. At DXB alone we’ve spent about US$13 billion since 2008 on major new facilities. And we’re not alone. All over the world airport management companies are investing in bigger and bigger facilities to accommodate more and more passengers. The traditional view of airport companies as infrastructure providers must change. We must become customer-centric. Every customer that passes through an airport, whether departing, arriving, or in transit, has needs that are unique and most airports have yet to unlock the secrets of mass-customisation that has been pioneered so well in manufacturing. The answer is in your pocket… well almost everyone’s pocket. A recent survey by SITA shows 81 % of passengers carry smartphones with them. The growth in portable computing power is only exceeded by the pace of miniaturization. As technology has evolved and its usage skyrocketed, the world around us has changed. As have expectations. This is heralding a new age of freedom... the freedom from the linearity of scale and capacity. When you consider capacity = space x flow we can use technology to enhance flow through in the same space. We have a unique opportunity to take the next step in the evolution of the airport experience with our shared, connected customers. To do this we need to design and apply technology in a different way. And we must think completely differently. We must change our thinking and our approach and put the customer first. That means collaboration and shared ownership of the customer experience. So to answer the question… the winners will be those airports that invest in smart technology, infrastructure and collaborative processes that combine to deliver on customer needs. And Dubai Airports has a strategy in place to ensure we are in that winner’s circle.