Airports should treat all travellers with importance and offer them a good travel experience rather than viewing them as “cash cows”, the chief executive of Saudi Arabia’s Neom Airports has said.
“All passengers should be viewed as VIPs, not cash cows or self-loading cargo. We must build … legacy-free airports and focus on enabling quicker and faster passenger journeys,” John Selden said in a blog.
Airports should not be considered as primary profit centres, but should help people and stimulate economic growth for communities, cities and countries, he said.
“Every customer should feel like an honoured guest. And every trip should feel like a pleasure,” Mr Selden said.
"That way, people will arrive at their destinations with an overwhelming feeling of positivity. If we can do all that, people might not feel that they want to exit an airport as quickly as is humanly possible.”
Neom Bay Airport, which serves the $500 billion Neom smart city being developed in Saudi Arabia, is already operational.
It currently has flights operated by national airline Saudia. Dubai carrier Flydubai also announced plans this month to start flights to the destination.
Neom, which aims to be home to millions of residents by 2030, hopes to start attracting tourists in 2024, according to Neom's head of tourism.
It will be home to a number of tourist attractions, including the Red Sea and the Trojena mountain destination — which will have a ski slope, mountain biking, watersports and an interactive nature reserve.
Meanwhile, Neom Airlines is also expected to start operations next year, said its chief executive Klaus Goersch.
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Trojena will open in 2026 as part of Saudi Arabia's megacity of the future. Photo: Neom -
Trojena is designed to attract visitors, holidaymakers and winter sports enthusiasts from around the world. PA -
The design plan for Trojena, an area in Saudi Arabia's planned megacity of Neom chosen to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games. AFP -
The Line is also being built at Neom. It will be free of cars and streets and have zero carbon emissions. Photo: Neom -
Neom chief executive Nadhmi Al Nasr said The Line would make use of artificial intelligence technology to the fullest. Photo: Neom -
Neom city will be powered by clean energy, officials say. Photo: Neom -
Trojena in Neom will host the first outdoor snow skiing destination in the GCC region. Photo: Neom -
Neom lies in a desert bordering the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia. Reuters -
Architects say Neom will be designed to make the most of its environmental surroundings. Photo: Neom -
Andrew McEvoy, sector head for tourism at Neom, at Arabian Travel Market held at Dubai World Trade Centre. Pawan Singh / The National -
The $500bn Neom project in the Tabuk Province of north-western Saudi Arabia is supported by the kingdom's Public Investment Fund. Photo: Saudi Commission for Tourism and Natural Heritage
Covid-19, which struck in 2020, devastated the aviation industry and forced airlines to take unprecedented measures to survive.
The pandemic is expected to have changed the structure of the industry, reshaped the way in which the public thinks about travel and redefined a new normal for airlines, airports and passengers, say many analysts.
Mr Selden said smart airports are the future of the aviation industry.
“A disruptive mindset, best-in-class data and leading-edge tech can help. The usual sources of delay — such as immigration, baggage handling and boarding — can be optimised. Biometrics will allow us to unlock time savings across the board,” he said.
For example, facial recognition can link faces to bags in the terminal as people walk through the airport. Technology will let the bags be delivered straight to the destination, whether it be a home or a hotel, rather than passengers having to carry them around, Mr Selden said.
Artificial intelligence can also guide passengers around the airport in the same way Google Maps helps people reach their destinations.
With Neom Airlines, innovations in the air might even include horizontal seats in all classes and “perhaps a better way to manage hand luggage that doesn’t require you to store a bag above your head”, he said.
Mr Selden cautioned that passenger traffic is growing fast and airports should be equipped better to handle it effectively and avoid chaos.
This year, passenger numbers are expected to surpass four billion for the first time since 2019, with 4.2 billion travellers expected to fly, according to industry body the International Air Transport Association.
Mr Seldon said the aviation industry will face “worse to come”, unless it takes steps to meet this challenge.
“By 2050, forecasters are predicting that the number of passengers will grow by a factor of 2.5 on the pre-Covid levels of 2019. If we carry on regardless, it will mean chaos for airlines, airports and worse still customers,” he said.
