New digital services and revenue management system for London Luton

London Luton Airport (LLA) has announced the adoption of a number of new digital services to improve the passenger experience as well as the introduction of new software designed to automate the billing of the airport’s aeronautical revenues.

The new digital services include the introduction of unlimited 10mb/s Wi-Fi across the terminal building, the creation of LLA Market Place, which enables passengers to pre-order food and drink contact-free, and an airport first offer of portable mobile chargers that can be rented for the duration of a trip.

Digital kiosks have also been introduced to help passengers navigate the airport and locate shops, restaurants and services.

Contactless ordering

LLA Market Place allows passengers to pre-order food and collect it from stores contact-free, helping to reduce unnecessary queueing. To access the service, passengers can scan a QR code from the armrest of their seat in selected areas or visit marketplace.london-luton.co.uk on their mobile devices. Food can currently be ordered from Smithfield and two Pret a Manger stores, with more to follow as restaurants re-open.

Passengers will be able to access LLA Market Place, as well as the rest of the internet through the introduction of free and unlimited Wi-Fi available throughout the airport.

Newly installed digital kiosks allow passengers to scan their boarding passes for personalised flight details including boarding time, gate number and the quickest route to the gate and average walking time. If there is plenty of time before the flight, the system will also suggest places to eat or shop and provide details on the latest offers.

An airport first partnership

With travellers relying more heavily on mobile devices for boarding cards and contactless payments, the airport has launched a partnership with Europe’s largest phone charging network, ChargedUp. The partnership makes portable power banks available to rent from 11 stations throughout the terminal – the first time the service has been installed at any airport in the UK.

Travellers can rent a power-bank, take it on-board their flight, and either return it to LLA upon their arrival back in the UK or automatically purchase it after 10 days. One of the benefits of this service will be to alleviate the need for people to congregate around power supply points throughout the terminal, instead allowing them to maintain social distancing.

LLA’s head of passenger services. Clare Armstrong, enthuses: “As well as improving the passenger experience, these new services are part of the airport’s efforts to keep passengers safe.

“Pre-ordering food via a mobile device reduces the number and duration of face-to-face interactions passengers need to make while ordering food. Our fast, unlimited Wi-Fi and portable chargers allow passengers to move about the terminal knowing that they can rely on their mobile device while travelling, while our digital kiosks provide all the information a passenger needs for their journey.”

New revenue management system

London Luton Airport has selected Veovo’s Revenue Management solution, which the technology company says will automate the billing of the airport’s aeronautical revenue and support the flexible commercial deals needed to encourage traffic recovery.

Indeed, its addition means that LLA can fully automate the collation and processing of billing data in real-time, potentially saving the airport hours of work, reducing the cost to invoice, minimising errors and improving the cash cycle time.

Veovo’s flexible tariff structure also allows the airport to quickly innovate with incentive schemes to restore and expand routes and monetise all types of services.

As air traffic returns, notes Veovo, finding ways to fuel revenue growth through greater billing efficiency and creating compelling carrier deals will be crucial to airports’ recovery.

The complexity and manual effort to gather and process aeronautical billing data can cause invoicing delays, slowing revenue realisation – something LLA believes is no longer sustainable in the new travel future.

Head of IT at London Luton Airport, Kamal Patel, says: “To create a more resilient and agile airport business, we wanted to drive real change with our revenue management by removing complexity, while also creating opportunities to stand out from the competition with new creative tariff structures. We expect Veovo to play a big part in helping us achieve greater efficiencies and innovation to fuel our growth.”

While Veovo CEO, James Williamson, notes: “Forward-thinking airports like London Luton Airport are investing in revenue management technology now, despite the market conditions, to be ready for the future of travel with better outcomes for themselves, their airline partners and their customers.

“We’re thrilled to be chosen as their partner to help them achieve greater revenue assurance and growth at every stage of the recovery process.”