Analysing passenger behaviour towards the catering industry: Implications for airport management

Abstract

This research note seeks to provide the most detailed analysis yet of passenger behaviour towards the airport catering industry. With the broadest sample to date among similar studies, namely 37,000 passengers surveyed at 8 different airports with 38 explanatory variables, a large number of conclusions have been drawn. The most important of these is that the factors that most influence a passenger’s using a catering establishment during his/her stay at an airport are his/her physiological needs and social reasons. However, contrary to what was anticipated a priori, socioeconomic status only has a moderate influence, while having a wide range and variety of foodstuffs on offer does not result in passengers consuming more. It is also observed that low-cost airline passengers consume less than those of traditional airlines, probably due to the stress related to boarding with these types of Airlines