SPECIAL REPORT: IT
But investment can also drive indirect revenues, too. In regions
where passengers have a choice of airports, as in Europe, it can be the competitive differentiator that drives them to pick one option over another. And a dynamic, smart-looking website that is easy to navigate can be a
powerful business-to-business tool, too, attracting new carriers, tour operators and retail partners to a particular airport. But above all, an airport’s website should reflect not only its
commitment to the passenger experience, but also its distinct personality, says Peter Spurway, vice president of corporate communications, concession development and government relations at Halifax International Airport Authority (HIAA). “We’re out here on our own in Atlantic Canada, by far the largest airport
in a very large region, so we don’t have the problem of competition – but it’s still very important to us that our website captures passengers’ imaginations,” he says. “It also has to act as a kind of ambassador for the airport, not only for
the facilities and quality of service that we offer, but for the region that we serve. In that way, we hope to attract new visitors, which is good for the airport and for other businesses in the province, too.” That approach seems to be working as in September 2010, its
new website (
FlyHalifax.com) won a marketing and communications award from ACI North America, beating off competition from more than 250 individual entries from 55 airport members across Canada and the United States. So what swung it for
FlyHalifax.com? Spurway thinks that, in part, the
website scored highly, precisely because it doesn’t follow the usual format for airport sites. “You won’t find pictures of airplanes, or of the control tower or terminal
buildings on our home page. We made a conscious decision to be different from other airports in that respect,” he says.
Despite its apparent differences, like other airport websites,
FlyHalifax.com still offers the ability to check arrival and departure times – displayed prominently on the home page – as well as a useful range of fare comparison and online booking tools. The website also sits at the heart of the airport’s social media
strategy, another thing it has in common with other forward-thinking airports, which are increasingly tapping into new collaborative tools in order to engage in two-way conversations with their passengers. Halifax Stanfield International Airport has a Facebook page and a
Twitter handle (@HfxStanfield), but “the website acts as the ‘mother- ship’ for these other initiatives”, says Spurway. In other words, postings on these social networking sites
frequently drive traffic back to
FlyHalifax.com – such as a recent ‘tweet’, alerting Twitter followers to a competition on the website to win a weekend for two in New York, and Facebook postings that let them know that new updates regarding Hurricane Earl’s progress were available online. At the same time, followers can use these tools to alert HIAA to any
issues they experience with the airport or to suggest new services they’d like to see. The use of social media has also paid dividends for Keflavik Airport in
Iceland, which has seen average monthly visits to its website increase dramatically over the past two years, in part due to its innovative use of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. According to figures from the gateway, located on the outskirts of capital
Reykjavik, its website received around 40,000 visitors in 2008. However, that figure almost doubled last year and by late September 2010, the figure stood at around 180,000 for the year-to-date. Even without the use of external social networking tools, however, airport websites are hosting two-way dialogues with passengers.
AIRPORT WORLD/OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2010 49
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