Category - Concessions/Retail

For more than 20 years, travelers, airport employees and the general public have enjoyed the 12.5-mile Hiker-Biker Trail that loops around the outside of Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI). It even includes bike rentals for just $13 per day and passes through a park with a playground.

People outside the industry sometimes think of airports as nothing more than places for airplanes to land and take off. Halifax Stanfield (YHZ) in Nova Scotia aspires to be much more-for passengers and its community.

Five years ago, Chick-fil-A was in four U.S. airports. By the end of 2017, company officials say they'll have nearly 30 restaurants in more than 25 airports throughout the country and one at Calgary International in Alberta, Canada.

Capitalizing on a popular streetside trend, two Hawaiian airports are using small battery-powered versions of the food trucks that have taken many North American cities by storm in the last few years.

Eppley Airfield (OMA) in Omaha, NE, put its outside-the-box thinking on full display when it opened an interactive art gallery in late April. In addition to selling pieces by regional artists, the new concession features live demonstrations of select artists creating their work-a strategy that is engaging airport visitors and boosting retail sales.

As international traffic increases and upscale overseas airlines begin to extend their first-class service beyond the cabin doors, San Francisco International Airport has taken notice-and action. In March, it launched the one-year pilot of a paid concierge service for passengers traveling on any airline, in any class of service.

With huge windows and plenty of open space, the mezzanine in Terminal 1 provides the best airfield views at Minneapolis-St. Paul International (MSP). And until recently, 5,000 square feet of the prime airport real estate was used for storage. That’s right, storage. Late last year, however, MSP began leveraging its second-story asset to create a new “luxury amenity.” It now leases the mezzanine space to MAG USA for an upscale common-use passenger lounge. MAG USA is the U.S. subsidiary of U.K.-based Manchester Airport Group, which owns and operates four British airports, including Manchester Airport and London Stansted Airport.

As the debate rages on about ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft operating at U.S. airports, another alternative ground transportation method is quietly spreading throughout the industry: car-sharing services.

Walk down the aisle of any flight lasting more than an hour, and you can probably guess what titles are topping the New York Times best-seller list with surprising accuracy. Airline passengers are highly vested in reading; and so are the airports they pass through.

When Southwest Florida International (RSW) opened a 24-hour gas station/convenience store last summer, it became the first airport in the state to offer a turnpike-style travel plaza. Strategically located between RSW's entrance and exit roads, the facility sits on land that Lee County Port Authority set aside for that very purpose when it modernized the Fort Meyers airport with a new terminal that opened in 2005.

A $10 million revamp of the airside terminal at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) simultaneously addressed two issues: a major change in the nature of the airport's passenger traffic and the need to update its retail concessions.

Chicago once again proved its "City of Big Shoulders" attitude with a $26 million renovation of international Terminal 5 at O'Hare International Airport (ORD). The development program doubled concession space and brought in high-end retail and dining options that showcase Chicago as a global business and tourist destination.