ABSTRACT
The revenue generated at terminals is determined partly by the nature of flights handled, and partly by the split between passengers, airport workers and visitors. Passengers are the most lucrative source of income, especially long-haul holiday and charter passengers. The latter in particular tend to spend longer in terminals than other passengers, and the special characteristics of charter holidays tend to encourage a spending spree at airports. Business travellers, though they may use conference, health club and restaurant facilities, tend to be frequent users of terminals, and pass through without
loitering in shopping areas. Business trips do not attract ‘meeters and greeters’, so there is less income generated here as well. The design of a terminal needs to reflect the passenger mix: where charter and scheduled flights share a terminal the range of facilities (and of opportunities to spend money) is greater than in a terminal catering almost exclusively for domestic business travel. The trend towards the commercialization of terminals is fuelled by a combination of airport privatization and the growth in relatively high-spending charter passengers.
