Airports, are you wasting money building your own mobile app

AIRPORTS

ARE YOU WASTING MONEY BUILDING YOUR
OWN MOBILE APP?

© 2010 Mantic Point Solutions Ltd
e: info@manticpoint.com
w: www.manticpoint.com

© 2010 Mantic Point Solutions Ltd v1.0

AIRPORTS: ARE YOU WASTING MONEY BUILDING YOUR OWN MOBILE APP?

want from an app, are you certain what benefits you
EVERYONE WANTS AN APP
want to get from an app, do you know which

platforms to support, do you know how to make
According to About.com, a Smartphone is a device
your app stand out in a crowded app store?
that lets you make telephone calls, but also adds

features that you might find on a personal digital These are all natural concerns, which we aim to

assistant or a computer. address in the next few pages. So, read on to find out

a little more about: the Smartphone market, what
Smartphones also let you download and run
travelers really want from a mobile travel app, what
applications or apps. And, since the launch of Apple’s
you want from a mobile travel app, and what’s the
iPhone and its App Store, it seems like everyone
best way for you to use apps to engage your
wants an app.
customers.

A number of airports have launched their own apps.
Hopefully, we’ll help you decide if building your own
You may well be considering launching an app, too.
mobile app is a good idea or a waste of money.

If so, are you concerned about the cost of developing

an app, are you clear what your customers actually

© 2010 Mantic Point Solutions Ltd Page|2 v1.0


HOW BIG IS THE SMARTPHONE MARKET? It’s clear to see that Smartphones are a significant

part of many traveler’s lives. After all, travel and

The Smartphone market is going from strength to mobile were made for each other . And, mobile is a

strength. Analyst IDC predicts the global Smartphone great way for you to engage your customer’s when

market will grow by 55% in 2010, with an impressive they’re on the move.

269 million new handsets shipped, representing

18.3% of all phones sold this year. WHAT ARE THE MAIN PLATFORMS?

And, when we look specifically at travel, we see that Smartphone’s aren’t just about Apple’s iPhone. In

Smartphone adoption is even higher. For example, fact, this sector is still dominated by Nokia, but you

PhocusWright’s latest survey shows the level of would be forgiven for not knowing this, because most

Smartphone ownership by frequency of travel: media coverage focuses on the US market where,

curiously, Nokia has an insignificant market share.
Leisure Business

1-2 Trips / Year 35% 49%
When you think about developing mobile apps you
3-4 Trips / Year 39% 58%

5+ Trips / Year 50% 75% are best thinking in terms of platforms (or operating

systems). IDC’s forecast for 2010 suggests that the
Source: PhocusWright’s Consumer Technology Survey 2010

top 4 platforms cover 89% of the market.



Operating System 2010 Market Share  If you have a large number of business
Symbian (Nokia) 40.1%
travelers passing through your airport, you
Blackberry OS (RIM) 17.9%

Android (Google) 16.3% probably have a large population of
IOS (Apple) 14.7%
Blackberry users, too.
Windows Mobile (Microsoft) 6.8%

Others 4.2 %

Total 100.0% So, when you prioritize platforms, you need to dig

beneath the headline figures to understand which are
Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker,

September 7, 2010
the most popular handsets with your target audience.

However, when you prioritize platforms for your

apps, market share isn’t the only consideration. For

example:

 Although IDC ranks Apple 4th for market

share, Apple certainly has the most

successful App Store whether measured in

terms of the number of apps available or the

number of downloads.



THINK LIKE A TRAVELLER Our approach is to consider what types of passenger

pass through your airport, and what help they may

So, if you’re going to use an app to communicate with need.

your customers, what information should you share
Here, we’ll consider 4 types of traveler:
with them?

Well, the first thing to say, is don’t just replicate your  The departing local

web-site in a mobile app.  The arriving visitor

 The transit passenger

When travelers visit your airport, they’re on the  The meeter / greeter
move, if they open your app they’re looking for

specific information. THE DEPARTING LOCAL

So, what type of information should we share with Assuming retail is a major source of revenue for you,

our travelers? And, what benefits do you, the airport, then you probably want to help this group negotiate

want to gain by engaging through mobile? your airport in as stress-free a manner as possible

and encourage them to visit your shops, bars and

restaurants.



 50% uplift in average transaction value on a

tax and duty free campaign

To engage with your departing locals, you may want

to provide them with:

 Flight status
Sample customer journey: a departing local (airport
 Terminal check (for multi-terminal airports)
touch-points highlighted)
 List of alternate flights in the case of delays

Your retail partners should be eager to target and  Road traffic conditions

communicate their special offers to these passengers  Airport terminal guide + maps (shops, bars,

on departure day. And, targeted, timely offers can be restaurants, services, etc)

hugely successful.  Security wait times

 Way-finding to gate
For example, we’ve seen:
 Save parking reminder for return journey

 10% redemption rates on foreign currency

campaigns



On their return, you’ll probably want to share On arrival, you probably want to help them leave the

baggage reclaim details, parking reminder and road airport as smoothly as possible, making them aware

traffic conditions. of their ground transport options, and

THE ARRIVING VISITOR The types of information you’d share includes:

You’ll typically have 2 interactions with this group of  Baggage reclaim updates

users. When they arrive at your airport for the start  Airport guides + maps (how to leave the

of their trip and when they return to your airport on airport)

the way home.
On their departure for home, you probably want to

help the traveler negotiate what may be an

unfamiliar airport to them and to encourage them to

visit your shops, bars and restaurants.

Your concession holders will most likely want to

target and communicate a small number of offers to
Sample customer journey: an arriving visitor (airport
these travelers.
touch-points highlighted)



The types of information this group would find useful restaurants. You probably also want to allow your

includes: concession holders to share their special offers with

target groups of transit passengers.
 Flight status

 Terminal check (for multi-terminal airports)


 Airport terminal guide + maps (shops, bars,

restaurants, services, etc)

 Security wait times

 Way-finding to gate

Sample customer journey: a transit passenger (airport

THE TRANSIT PASSENGER touch-points highlighted)

You probably want to ensure the time the transit The types of information you could provide includes:

passenger spends in your airport is as stress-free as
 Connecting flight status
possible, and for travelers on a longer layover you
 Connection guide between terminals
want to encourage them to visit your shops, bars, and



 Airport terminal guide + maps (shops, bars, pick-up area. So, is an app the best way to serve the

restaurants, services, etc) needs of this group? Could an SMS (text messaging)

 Way-finding to gate service with flight status do the job more effectively?

THE MEETER/GREETER Tip: take-up of this type of service tends to improve

when the meter/greeter has the ability to register

Perhaps your goal with this group is to encourage flights in advance, ideally through your web-site.

them to park-up and to buy a coffee.

The types of information you could provide to help

meters and greeters includes:

 Flight status

 Short-term parking options

 Food / drink offers

However, a large part of this group are likely to be

taxi drivers trying to time their run to your arrivals



WHAT ELSE DO TRAVELERS WANT? recommendations for places to visit, find out what’s

on locally, check the local weather, etc)? And what

We’ve considered some of the ways in which you about the other airports they fly to and through,

could provide useful content to your customers to won’t they need apps from them, too?

encourage them to use your app. And, when
So, why would the traveler download your app?
customers are using your app, we’ve seen how you
What makes your app stand out from the crowd?
can educate them about the shops, cafes, bars,

restaurants, bureau de change and other services

available to them … and, how you can target specific

promotions to specific types of traveler to boost

retail revenue.

But, we also need to remember that the traveler who

passes through your airport is on a trip. Critically, you

only interact with them for a part of their journey.

What information will they need at other points in

their trip (e.g. check their itinerary, get

© 2 0 1 0 M a n t i c P o i n t S o l u t i o n s L t d P a g e | 10 v1.0


THE REALITY OF BUILDING YOUR OWN APP DO YOU REALLY NEED YOUR OWN APP?

If you agree that for your app to be useful it needs to If your app project is a vanity project, so you can say

support the needs of travelers throughout their trip, that your airport’s brand has a presence in one of

then you probably realize that developing such an more App Stores, then you will need your own app,

app will be costly. and that’s fine.

Realistically, you’re looking at a 50,000 – 100,000 Some very large airports will feel they need to have

Euros or Dollars to get your basic app developed on their own presence in the App Stores, and that’s fine,

one platform. Then you’ll incur further costs as you too.

look to support other platforms, too.
For these airports, the choice is to commission their

And, when you consider that today there’s not just an own app or to create their own version of an existing

app for this and an app for that- there’s a whole load white-label app.

of apps for this and another whole load of apps for
But, if you are more concerned with customer
that too –could you be about to make a big, risky
experience, growing your retail revenue, and return
investment with no guarantee of a return?
on investment – do you really need your own app?



Or, is it more important to retain editorial control By 2002 over 300 real estate agents listed their

over the content travelers see about your airport and properties on Righmove’s web-site and by 2007 this

to manage which promotional offers are seen by had grown to over 12,000 agents. Today, over 90% of

travelers when they’re passing though your airport? all homes for sale in the UK are listed on Rightmove

and over 40 million people visit the site each month.
If it’s the latter, then there are parallels and lessons

we can learn from the real estate industry. This has created in Rightmove’s words “a virtuous

circle” in which home hunters have access to the
LEARNING FROM THE REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY
broadest selection of UK properties and agents can

access the largest number of home hunters.

A VIRTUOUS CIRCLE FOR AIRPORTS AND
Rightmove.co.uk is the UK's number one property
TRAVELERS?
website. Launched in 2000 on the premise that

home movers don’t want to visit lots of individual
What if a similar virtuous circle existing for travelers
real estate agent sites, Rightmove aims to be the one
and airport operators?
place where UK home movers can find details of all

properties available to buy or rent.



What if there was an app which provided airports Would you be intrigued? Would you want to learn

with access to the widest number of travelers and more?

which provided travelers with the widest range of
If so, please contact us to find out more.
content for their entire trip?

Imagine if travelers could download this one app that

was supported by and promoted by multiple airports

and was available on all the major app stores.

Imagine if the traveler could add trips from any

airport, to any airport … but … when someone

travelled from your airport, the app behaved like a

chameleon, changing to use your branding, to show

your official airport guide, and to allow your retailers

to target their promotions.

And, what if this app offered a low-cost route for you

to go mobile?



ABOUT MANTIC POINT using proven SMS, mobile-web applications, and

native mobile applications.

Mantic Point designed, built, and operates
Existing clients include Air New Zealand, Amadeus,
StreamThru, a mobile travel assistant which provides
BAA Heathrow Airport, Bristol Airport, Holiday Extras,
up-to-date travel information to holidaymakers and
Manchester Airport, Opodo and Vodafone.
business travelers through their mobile phones.

StreamThru updates travelers automatically with WHAT OTHERS SAY

timely, personalized information about their trip,
StreamThru was highlighted by Nokia as one of the
including flight information, weather forecasts, traffic
top-5 travel applications in their Ovi store for in one
updates, itinerary reminders, destination information
of their recent marketing campaigns
and even quizzes to help pass the time.

On the StreamThru IPHONE App:
StreamThru is available in white-label form to help

travel companies keep in touch with their customers

while they are on the move, providing up-to-the-

minute, personalized travel information, which is

delivered direct to the customer's mobile phone



“StreamThru … takes all the best parts of many other CONTACT US

travel apps, and turns it into a single all-in-one

assistant … the best part is the amazing amount of

information included inside the app” Mantic Point Solutions Ltd

Gadling, June 14 ,2010 Round Foundry Media Centre
Foundry Street

On the StreamThru NOKIA App:
Leeds
LS11 5QP
UK

email: info@manticpoint.com

web: www.manticpoint.com
“…the simple approach to flight information with

weather, flight status and local guide makes
and: www.streamthru.com
StreamThru an integrated and complete resource for

travelers, especially given how you can access all the

information offline when you reach your destination”

Symbian Guru, April 6, 2010


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