More than a perk: the place, value, and potential of the airport lounge
European airports are entering a structurally different era. For decades, financial viability was underpinned by dynamic traffic growth. But as ACI EUROPE’s latest analysis makes clear, that assumption can no longer be taken for granted. In a lower-growth, higher-cost, and ultimately more volatile environment, the question is no longer simply how many passengers pass through a terminal – but how much value each passenger represents.
Within this context, airport lounges are emerging as areas of the terminal with incredibly rich potential. The ACI EUROPE Task Force on Airport Lounges, a subgroup of the ACI EUROPE Commercial Forum, is tasked with exploring this potential in further detail. In this Five Minute Feature, we ask the co-Rapporteurs of the ACI EUROPE Task Force on Airport Lounges – Thomas Kaneko Henningsen (Partner, Blueprint) and Lasse Berg (Director, Newmark’s Travel and Aviation Division) – on the Task Force’s rich insights into the power of airport lounges and their strategic importance moving forward.
If European airports can no longer rely on passenger growth to drive value, how are non-aeronautical revenues shifting from being an additional revenue source to becoming central to financial strategy? For Lasse, the answer lies in what he describes as a structural dilemma: revenue per passenger has been declining, even as investment requirements continue to rise. ‘Airports are facing a structural decoupling between passenger growth and spend per passenger. When traffic growth no longer guarantees revenue growth, commercial strategy becomes about yield engineering and less about footfall – the emphasis needs to move from volumes to value,’ he explains. The key question is how to extract greater value from the passengers already in the terminal. Reflecting on discussions at The Trinity Forum 2026, the world’s leading airport commercial revenues conference, he notes ‘the core problem is how to create a better partnership with stakeholders to create maximum value, and benefit with the passengers that you have already.’
Thomas situates this shift in a broader historical context. Airports were originally built simply to move people from A to B, but accommodating future growth will demand substantial funding as air traffic in 2045 is projected to double, according to ACI World. ‘In Europe, the short answer is the airport shopping centre,’ he says. ‘If non-aero must become the growth engine, airports need to actively develop higher-yield areas – with lounges evolving from loyalty perks into a strategic and scalable revenue stream at the heart of long-term value creation.’
Non-aero may increasingly be seen as the growth engine, but an analysis Blueprint conducted in association with ACI EUROPE and published by The Moodie Davitt Report showed that retail, including duty-free, is on a downward trend in relative terms. ‘The current setup is not working as transactions become less valuable,’ Lasse explains. ‘Can lounges offset some of this? The answer is yes, but there are so many layers to this question. Airports in Europe operate with limited space, and lounges require it. But there is a conversation happening about how lounges can become part of the wider commercial environment: how can we place a certain type of lounge in a certain part of the airport that benefits the wider commercial offering?’
‘It all depends on the type of lounge,’ Thomas argues. ‘Common-use lounges vs. VIP terminals and lounges cater to very different customer behaviours, this is not one size fits all. If in-terminal dwell time is linked to spend, then in-lounge dwell time could, in theory, be linked to in-lounge spend. Adapting and diversifying in-lounge offers may therefore trigger new spends which, in turn, unlock questions relating to what types of products, services and experiences future lounge customers will want to buy.’
Amongst the discussions being considered by the Airport Lounge Task Force is that of experience over transaction, and whether lounges offer a natural canvas for airports to offer immersive and memorable experiences. ‘Lounges will become a benchmark for travel retail. When done beautifully, they are incredibly immersive,’ Thomas notes. ‘They can become a micro-universe in themselves; Hamad International Airport in Doha features the world’s first Louis Vuitton airport lounge, and Frankfurt has an impressive VIP Terminal & Lounge. In both cases, discreet luxury meets world-class hospitality. As a Task Force, we see that exceptional lounge experiences exist already, and we believe this is only going to grow.’
‘Lounges are controlled environments where you are able to curate differently than elsewhere in the airport,’ Lasse adds. ‘For decades, airports optimised retail. The next decade will be about orchestrating hospitality. Lounges are simply the most controlled testing ground for that shift. The Task Force is interested in exploring how airports can move from being a shopping place to a hospitality platform, and lounges, being able to hit the nail on the head on so many different passenger experience points, have the opportunity to elevate retail expectations.’
Yet when airport space comes at a premium, and management must choose between allocating it to a lounge or another F&B outlet, do lounges cannibalise terminal spend – or do they increase total dwell-time value by capturing higher-margin revenue earlier in the journey? For Lasse, this is precisely the question occupying the Task Force. ‘Cannibalisation is the wrong starting point. The correct question is: what is the counterfactual? If lounges did not exist, would the terminal generate more value, or would it simply generate congestion? That is why engagement on this topic is so high.’ Many airports perceive lounges as diverting F&B spend they cannot directly control – yet, he stresses, the reality depends heavily on context.
In busy, congested terminals with limited seating, lounges operate within constraints of their own. ‘If lounges didn’t exist in a very busy airport, passengers might spend more on F&B – but they might also be too crowded or have a bad experience,’ Lasse notes. ‘It really depends on the airport.’
Thomas echoes this nuance. Rather than framing the issue as simple cannibalisation, he argues we should let customers weigh in. ‘If travelling customers choose the lounge option, ask why? Why do they gravitate towards it? What is less interesting about the in-terminal F&B, seating, and entertainment options? This is a critical context in which to have a customer-centric conversation with concession partners about value and what truly matters to customers. It depends on the airport, the type of lounges, customer profiles, dwell-time, the propensity to shop and spend – but the idea that ‘lounges cannibalise’ is a very one-dimensional perspective.’ ‘Indeed, the market can decide,’ echoes Lasse. ‘If the airport is offering something that is of high-value outside of lounges – spaces people want to visit – people will visit them.’
Yet, understanding passenger motivation – and delivering high levels of satisfaction – is an ongoing challenge. Asking both what kind of data lounges can provide about premium passenger behaviour, the answer might surprise readers. ‘Airports traditionally own infrastructure, not customer relationships. That means they lack direct behavioural insight and lounges may be one of the few environments where more granular behavioural data becomes possible,’ Lasse states. Thomas dives deeper into this: ‘Terminal data tends to be more anonymous and transactional. In a micro-environment like a lounge, something to consider is tracking technologies. When do lounge guests arrive and leave? Do they head to relaxing spaces or the buffet first? Which spaces are overused vs. underused? As tracking technologies advance, we’ll have the answers to these questions – and that can tell us a lot about how to further adapt the lounge experience.’
It is undeniable that credit cards and access programmes are increasing consumer access to lounges – does this pose a problem for the Task Force? ‘Lounges have increasingly become more democratised. This shift increases revenue resilience, but it also increases complexity. The more accessible lounges become, the more important segmentation and experience management become,’ Lasse states. Thomas agrees: ‘In 2024, approximately 6% of passengers travelled premium (business class and first class), but does this translate into a significant growth opportunity with the remaining passenger profiles? And would these groups gravitate towards more inclusive and democratic lounge types? ‘
Gen Z are perhaps the hottest topic in non-aero right now, with 1.2 billion Gen Z travellers expected by 2028. Are airport lounges a ‘slay’ or a ‘flop’ – in their own terms – for this notoriously hard-to-read group? ‘I had to Google what ‘slay’ means!’ admits Lasse, rather honestly. ‘Gen Z are less loyal to airline status, but more loyal to experience quality. That fundamentally shifts how airports should think about lounge access – from reward mechanism to lifestyle product.’ Thomas notes, ‘It is a ‘slay’ for the Gen Z if lounges offer unique experiences which can be shared online – FOMO is a critical driver when it comes to engaging younger travellers. It is more likely to be a ‘flop’ if lounges are too generic, offering little differentiation. Equally important is Gen Z’s financial perception: they want value for money, not the cheapest possible experience. They’ll pay for what they want, but it has to be extraordinary. Gen Z weigh up many properties of their purchases, from brand collaborations to convenience and purpose.‘
And the future? Innovation, of course – but what will the airport lounge of the future look like? And how can unique lounges elevate the overall airport experience? For Thomas, part of the answer is hospitality. ‘If lounges are to become powerful micro-environments, customised hospitality must be the benchmark – not just basic customer service,’ he says. The reference point is not better furniture and nicer carpets, but leading hotels and restaurants along with your own home, which mix and leverage sense of place with sense of belonging: ‘It’s not about gold leaf on desserts. It’s about human-to-human, bespoke and memorable experiences. Offer lounge guests a home away from home even if it is only for a short moment.’ Practical and simple innovations matter too: ‘Why don’t we have mute boxes for private calls? Gaming spaces? Why so many tables for four, and not more single seating? ’ What about online stores where guests can shop while being immersed into brand sponsored spaces? There should be more next-level collaborations between lounges, brands, and retailers, given that airports represent the finest brands and products in the world. Concepts such as flexible workspaces, inspired by co-working offices, and leading culinary cities like Tokyo – blending F&B, experiential retail and social commerce – offer clues to what tomorrow’s lounge could look like.
For Lasse, lounges are evolving into something closer to a member’s club. ‘They will become communities – down-to-earth but personalised,’ he says, with more targeted services and potentially new pricing models such as pay-by-the-hour. ‘We are still in the early beginnings of lounge economics. Distribution has matured faster than product integration. The next evolution is not more lounges but smarter lounges. Evolution will come, and that’s what the Task Force is engaged with – the hybridisation of the surrounding commercial environment and becoming part of the lounge journey. Being able to order food in from F&B outlets, for instance. That’s what lounges need to do to stay competitive.
‘The future is bright – but only for airports that treat lounges as part of a commercial ecosystem, not as isolated rooms.’
