Five Examples Of Airport Digital Signage

Airports are one of the many business establishments where you will find digital signage being implemented.

As an establishment that deals with thousands of people every day, airports use digital signage technology as a solution to leveraging a more holistic business operation that will help them remain efficient while maximizing profit.

However, as with any other business establishment, the success of an airport’s digital signage depends on how well it integrates the technology. There are several ways airport digital signage is used to improve the overall airport customer experience.

Below, we have provided five examples of digital signage in airports that guarantee immense benefits to the organization.

What Is Airport Digital Signage?

Ever since it hit the mainstream market, various business industries and sectors have integrated digital signage into their operations. These businesses simply could not ignore the benefits of this powerful technology.

Soon, digital signage overthrew its precursor, static signage, and became the most sought-after business solution in small and large enterprises. Large businesses like airports revel in the operational benefits that digital signage provides.

In an organization that deals with thousands of customers day in and day out, whatever cost-saving and streamlining solution that facilitates a seamless operation are often highly welcome.

But what exactly is airport digital signage?

Airport digital signage uses digital screens in airport establishments to display important information to customers and workers. These digital displays streamline airport operations while saving money and time.

To truly understand what airport digital signage is, you need to understand what digital signage is and why it is crucial.

Digital Signage: An Overview

Digital signage, also sometimes called electronic signage, is the use of display technologies like LCD or LED screens to display videos, pictures, web pages, and even customized messages.

Digital signage is an interactive technological solution that makes it easier to communicate with people by conveying helpful information. Proper communication exerts a powerful influence on consumer satisfaction and relationships.

Before digital signage became a popular medium of communication, businesses everywhere settled for the more mundane static versions, which included billboards, fliers, and posters. These static options served their purpose and were used to display images and texts clearly for people to see.

However, they were a passive communication medium and lacked the dynamic power of digital signage. Digital signage, unlike static signage, comprises four key components, which are:

Content: This is what the digital screen displays. It can be anything from pictures to videos, catalogs, reviews, or customized quotes.

Display: This is the screen on which content is being displayed.

Media player: This component that makes it easy to upload content onto the display.

Software: This component enables the creation and management of content

Together, these key components work to give businesses an edge over the competition by giving them the opportunity to personalize their services. In business today, communication is integral to success.

With proper communication, establishments can attract customers, guide people down the sales funnel, increase retention, and ultimately, increase purchases.

Since visual content receives 94 percent more views than text-only content and digital signage captures 400% more views than static signage, it became evident that the chance for better visual and audio communication is provided by digital signage.

When integrated into a business properly, digital signage:

1. Increases Recall and Retention Rate

Digital signage not only attracts more views but also captures attention better. With static signage, out of sight is often out of mind. This is because many static signs are designed to send text-based messages. Digital signage, on the other hand, uses a blend of pictures, videos, and texts to transmit messages.

This not only grabs people’s attention but leaves an imprint in their minds even when it is out of sight. Visual imagery is processed 60,000 times faster in the brain than text. By yielding the power of attractive graphics, businesses can leverage the benefit of visual information to improve brand awareness and visibility.

2. Boosts Revenue

Small and large establishments use digital signage and valuable content to tip the scales in their favor and increase revenue. They do this by doing things like up-selling to influence purchasing decisions, using clients’ FOMO against them with promotional offers, and ultimately improving customer satisfaction and providing an immersive consumer experience.

3. Saves Money

Digital signage is a low-cost digital solution. It requires little to no effort to create and update content than any static sign does. Fixed signs need a complete revamp when any information needs to be changed.

Changing static signs come with expenses for designing, printing, and shipping, making it a less practical option in the long run. Digital signage offers features that enable users to update content at the tap of a button. New prize? Adjust your content and re-upload it to your digital screen for everyone to see without any problem.

4. Provides Real-time Information

Digital signage offers businesses the opportunity to communicate in real-time. This allows sharing of critical information when necessary for a more streamlined operation.

5 Examples of Airport Digital Signage

Digital signage in airports is undoubtedly one of the most effective implementations of digital signage in modern society. In a large establishment with diverse moving parts that are working towards one objective, it can be challenging to keep operations in sync to enable maximum efficiency.

However, with digital signage, the busy airport environment is not a rambling establishment but one with streamlined communication and distribution of information. Airports use digital signage to increase operational efficiency while also improving customer satisfaction.

Some examples of digital signage in airports include:

1. Wayfinding

It is not common to meet people who look very lost, wandering helplessly in the airport. There are several customer pain points in the airline business, and one of the most common ones is the way-finding problem.

Airports are large establishments with a flow of passengers in transit going in every direction. Add in the blend of the crew, airport operators, and onsite maintenance contractors, and you will find that the airport is easily one of the most disorienting environments anyone can ever visit.

In a large building with an unfamiliar floor plan and constantly moving crowds, it can be easy to lose your way multiple times. This always stresses and frustrates passengers as they hurry to or away from the boarding gate and destination.

Before implementing digital signage, airports invested in large static maps and signs to guide customers towards their destination at various parts of the mammoth buildings. Although these were practical solutions, they were still not well-coordinated and did not manage the traffic stream as well as airport management hoped.

Digital signage solved this problem by offering a more intuitive and dynamic solution for airports. With overhead digital screens placed in areas and labeled the necessary locations like “boarding gate” and status like “gate closed” or other areas like “baggage claim”, passengers can easily and quickly find their way around airports with little to no problem.

This reduces the frustration that accompanies the feeling of being lost and enables customers to have an improved and streamlined experience with the airport.

Some airports also integrate the use of touch-screen wayfinding solutions that find their airport destination from their current location. This offers personalized directions, a more immersive experience than the ones general wayfinding wall screens provide.

2. Baggage Claim Information

A report by a baggage management solution company named SITA shows that 28 million bags are mishandled annually. Of this figure, seventy-seven percent of those bags are delayed, while five percent are lost entirely.

If you have ever deplaned and immediately begun a man-hunt for your baggage without knowing which locations it might be loaded in or when it will arrive, you would understand how daunting and frustrating the process is.

Temporary lost and forgotten bags are a common occurrence in airports, and usually lead to a long and annoying process of trying to get the airport to reclaim them

To avoid these problems, airports have adopted a strategy of using digital signage screens to point travelers in the right direction. These screens are large enough that they can't be missed and often bear baggage information.

From baggage claim location to location of the conveyor belt and baggage arrival times, digital signage displays essential baggage information to reduce the chances of travelers misplacing or losing baggage.

3. Flight Information Displays

Flight Information Displays (FIDs) are one of the most crucial technologies in any airport. They contribute to regulating travel traffic and ensuring everyone is at the right place at the right time.

Flight information displays show passenger information like departures/arrival, flight time, flight location, and flight status. It helps to simplify the flight schedule display process and help passengers be aware of their schedules, thereby reducing the risk of missing a flight due to misinformation.

Keeping passengers well-informed is vital to the smooth running of any airport. Airports function with a specific schedule, and FID systems are essential to ensure everything is on track.

Airports constantly update FID systems in real time. These regular updates are essential, especially in an unfamiliar environment where timing is crucial. If you have ever had a delayed flight, you will know how frustrating a back-logged airport is.

Digital signage plays a significant role in the success of any FID system. All components, from the high-quality display screens put together to form the massive wall and the sophisticated FIDs software form a state-of-the-art system that keeps airports efficient and on track, and customers satisfied.

With digital signage, airports have a fully functional FID system that offers information like:

• Aircraft type
• Scheduled arrival/departure time
• Estimated arrival/departure time
• Flight status
• Flight gate number
• Boarding flight information
• Estimated or scheduled delays
• Translation to other languages
• Live infotainment
• Flight number

4. Waiting Area Screens

Waiting in an airport is inevitable. In fact, it is one of the primary components of flying with airlines. Although waiting can be a daunting task, airports are relieving this pain point by providing entertainment through digital signage.

Long wait periods are a leading cause of customer satisfaction. The longer clients wait or are delayed, the more irritable they are. Imagine waiting at an airport without stimulation to keep you distracted until it is time to board a plane.

Airports all over the world are turning wait times into relaxing periods by offering infotainment content to passengers as they wait. By using digital signage, airports use screens in waiting areas to display news, weather forecasts, sport updates, or even play music videos.

These contents act as mental stimulation, keeping passengers engaged until it is time to leave. Some luxurious hotel lounges also offer small private digital screens coupled with headphones for a more personal and immersive experience.

5. Internal Communication

Although airports can be hectic environments for travelers, it is equally stressful for staff, crew, and other working personnel in the establishment.

An airport is a large establishment where people have different rules with the same objective of ensuring that operations go smoothly and seamlessly. To ensure every worker is on the same page, it is essential to have a platform to exchange meaningful information.

Digital screens are perfect for internal communication because it offers a medium to share information in real-time. It also quickly catches attention so that information updates will be difficult to miss.

With digital signage, it will be easy to inform workers of their duties, share emergency or crisis information, and ensure everyone is doing their duties. Using digital signage for internal communication in an airport decreases security risks, builds trust, and improves employee performance.

Airport-Worthy Digital Signage

With the right digital signage solution, airport opportunities for operational efficiency are endless. Customer experience will skyrocket, brand awareness will improve, and revenue will increase.

Loop TV offers an easy way to do all these and more. Perfect for small or large businesses, Loop TV offers premium digital signage features like scheduling and playlist creation, and over 150 channels for entertainment.