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What do travellers really want from an airport?

25th October 2013

Travellers were recently asked exactly what was it they really wanted from their airport experience, with surprising results.

The survey, conducted by travel company Skyscanner, asked international frequent flyers about their preferences in airport features.

According to the results, neither vanity areas nor sleeping pods are ranked as the most important, with just 30 and 36 per cent of people, respectively, choosing these options as their number one feature.

Instead, a cinema within the airport is considered as the number one most-wanted feature with 49 per cent of the vote.

Travellers who book in on one of our USA tours or for a holiday in Europe might find that during a stopover in the Hong Kong International Airport, a massive cinema is one of the added features available.

Other airports that currently offer cinemas are the Changi airport in Singapore and the Vaclav Havel airport in Prague.

Travellers also chose a number of varied features for the rest of the top 10.

Sleeping pods were second, followed closely by libraries and parks with almost a third of the vote each (32 and 31 per cent respectively), while kids play areas and pools garnered a fifth of the vote each, with 21 and 20 per cent respectively.

The availability of physical activities also made the top 10, with 15 per cent of travellers saying that a gym would be their most preferred asset, and 11 per cent regarding bikes for hire within the airport as their number one feature.

Some however, opted for a more relaxing airport stopover or stay experience, voting for a man-made beach as their number one. Unfortunately, this luxury has not yet arrived on our shores, but perhaps now airport developers might consider the option.