AIR PORTS
Measuring customer satisfaction
Measuring customer satisfaction is important to Brussels Airport. It participates in the international Airport Service Quality research which analyses information from hundreds of airports worldwide. The research covers everything from parking, to shops and food service. Besides the Airport Service Quality research, Brussels Airport also carries out 2700 in-depth face-to-face passenger interviews every year. “We obtain the results every quarter so we can benchmark our progress and analyse trends in customer demand” explains Leon Verhallen, Head of Aviation Marketing. “For example the research showed us that we needed to offer more choice in our food and beverage outlets, so we have enlarged our range. Most recently we have seen the opening of Exki, a natural food restaurant and take away, as well as Belle & Belge, which serves typical Belgian food and beers to bring a local flavour into the airport. Our three Starbucks outlets have also proven to reply to a big passenger demand. By the time we finish our renewal of the commercial zones next spring, we will offer even more choice than the current 28 food and beverage outlets.”
The journey begins at the airport
“As part of our initiatives specifically aimed at enhancing the customer experience, we have created a new job title of Customer Experience and Loyalty Manager at the airport” says Leon Verhallen. “This role has been created to ensure that the airport goes beyond functionality. Our intention is that the journey, whether a holiday or a business trip, really begins at our airport, not just at arrival on destination. For example we organised Christmas celebrations and last summer we decorated the airport as a beach and organised activities to give a really festive summer atmosphere. These ‘soft’ activities are something that passengers will be seeing at Brussels Airport a lot more in the future, in addition to the tangible facilities such as our renewed Diamond Lounge which makes superior lounge facilities accessible for all passengers.”
Encouraging more connecting traffic
“In a year’s time, when the two piers are connected, passengers will have the feeling of being at a brand new airport” says Leon Verhallen. “There will be an enlarged retail portfolio, more security lanes and more baggage facilities. All of this will help the growth of connecting passengers that we are seeing, particular in our role as a Star Alliance hub. 16% of travellers here are connecting passengers and this is a market that we want to increase. We are not a megaairport such as Paris or Amsterdam but we do have an excellent network of flights particularly to Europe, the US and Africa.” Cross-border marketing is something that Brussels Airport has been working on, especially to increase awareness in the Dutch market. “After all in many cases it is actually closer for them, as well as being cheaper and more convenient” says Leon Verhallen. “We now have a dedicated website for the Netherlands and a lot of online and outdoor display marketing activities. We have very good value parking facilities and we are working to further encourage the number of high speed trains to the airport.” With new flights from Brussels Airlines, easyJet, Ryanair and Vueling in particular, Brussels Airport’s forecast expectations for 2014 is to cross the 20 million milestone in terms of passenger numbers. “The airport has just broken through the 200 passenger destinations barrier for the first time” says Leon Verhallen. “We currently have 204 destinations served from the airport, including over 25 long haul departures a day” says Leon Verhallen. “As a strong economic hub in the heart of Europe, our focus is more than ever on customers, service and accessibility.”
| THE CORPORATE TRAVELLER.BE
SPRING 2014 | 25