London – As Heathrow and Gatwick airports in the UK grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, they promised a brave new world of global connectivity – and provided somewhere for a family day out.
Probably more people came to gaze upon the destination boards, with the exotic promise of Biarritz, Baghdad or New York, than ever actually flew.
Anyone excluded from foreign travel by the outlandish fares then charged by the airlines could nonetheless mingle with the rich and famous, sipping tea at Fortes 24-hour Bar and Buffet and dreaming of foreign airfields.
Day-trippers were denied access only to the inner sanctum beyond passport control, where departing passengers could buy a duty-free bottle of gin.
Half a century on, air travel has become democratised. We are (almost) all passengers now. Airports in the London area alone will handle 140 million travellers this year, making it the world’s leading aviation gateway.
But modern airports are like prisons and hospitals: most people would prefer to avoid them altogether and, once inside, want to get out as fast as possible. An airport is just an uncomfortable, undignified means to an end.
Or is it?
Since Heathrow and Gatwick became rivals five years ago with the break-up of BAA, tens of millions of pounds have been invested in new shops to boost the pre-flight offering. At the same time, retailers recognise that a location adjacent to a runway at a London airport is the fastest way to reach a global audience.
For practitioners of the retail arts, there are many challenges. Passengers are typically tired and stressed and may be fixated on a single “distress” purchase: the pharmacy Boots is always front of house for last-minute personal needs, while among the fastest- moving lines at Dixons are connectors and chargers for tablets and telephones.
But airport merchants also enjoy advantages. The typical passenger is happy to spend freely before they step aboard and fly somewhere exciting (or home to Ohio), because shopping is an alluring way to kill time.
Passengers can’t wander back to the car or the bus stop when they’ve had enough. The only way out is on an airliner. Add in the travellers who need to buy presents for family and friends and will pay whatever it takes to assuage the conscience, and it’s no surprise that seven out of 10 Heathrow passengers buy something (a larger proportion than use the loos).
“When people are here they are in a very different mindset,” says Max Vialou-Clark. He is Heathrow’s retail services director. “They want an experience, places that entertain and amuse them and they’re prepared to upgrade.”
That explains the long-standing presence at Heathrow of premier-league brands such as Harrods. When the new Terminal 2 opens in June the main target is not the British traveller who needs to run one last retail errand on home turf, but international passengers.
An airport so good you won’t want to take off: that is the hope of both Heathrow and Gatwick.
The Independent