Future of Airport Lounges in India

WITH THE onset of New Year, we come across several innovations being made in different sectors which aim at creating ease of life. The travel and tourism industry is no stranger to this development and thus advancements in this sector are aimed at enhancing the customer’s experience. Since airports are becoming a destination in themselves, so are the airport lounges. And, new-found airport lounges are now offering absolute content based comfort.

As from the time of entering the airport till boarding an airplane, the demand for a luxurious, comfortable transit increases and, airport lounges would play an important role here. Although, technology is bound to play a major role in meeting the never-ending demands of the travelers, but to what extent? Advancement in technology has surely pushed us to the edge of the evolution of air travel.

Now, with the increasing requirements and rapidly changing technology, lounges these days are becoming more interactive and personalized in accordance to each traveler. Technologies like Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are becoming a part of the booming rise of a customized experience. Imagine witnessing the power of AR to relish reality-based games or simply, browse through digital shopping options with VR while sitting at a lounge. The lounges at Paris Charles De Gaulle and Rome Fiumicino airports have been testing VR to provide their customers with fully immersive videos or to experience exotic destinations.

Wouldn't it be exciting to witness VR enabled fitness zone at the lounges wherein one can choose their own work out environment? For this is soon going to be a reality, too. Now, while wailing away the time till your next flight, imagine having all geared up chatbots to make reservations or to get your add-on check-ins. AI is another tech-based service which is not just being utilized from facial recognition to print methodology, taking in information about boarding passes and more. There are many other spheres which will be soon catered too with the help of it. Some lounge operators are also working closely with the airport operators to provide the lounge access through biometrics, reducing the need for human interventions, thus making the process smoother and faster. A similar technology is being tried in Los Angeles International airport wherein face recognition technology is being used to speed up boarding pass checks. This will help a traveler to get information and updates related to their travel itinerary right on their handheld devices.

While India is going to be the third largest country in terms of passenger traffic by 2020. The share of business travel is expected to reach US$ 39.88 billion in 2026 from US$ 10.26 billion in 2017, whereas leisure travel is forecasted to rise from US$ 181.65 billion in 2017 to US$ 203.5 billion in 2026. In light of the above statistics there would be a huge demand for upgrading the Airport lounge services. The above mentioned changes are just a few things that can be seen at many airport lounges soon. It becomes all the more important to efficiently utilize the travel time for those working professionals who travel often. Apart from work-based environment, these enhancements will boost the personalized experience of the travelers for a smooth lounging experience.