Airport loyalty programs

Airports are operating in two sided markets. On one side are the airlines, which airports fight for in a competitive market. On the other side are passengers within the catchment area of the airports. Furthermore, there are transfer travelers, which choose their itinerary partly based on the attractiveness and efficiency of transfer airports. Hence, airports aim at being an attractive place for travelers and by this for airlines. For increasing competitiveness, especially secondary airports, but partly also primary hubs have established customer loyalty programs. The aim of this paper is to compare several of such programs, which European Airports offer. A passenger survey provides a ranking of service attributes, which are attractive for travelers as benefits from airport loyalty programs.
The results of the study provide indications for secondary airports in Europe, which consider their competitiveness by introducing an airport loyalty program.