Urban-Air Port Thought Leaders - The Board of Advisors Speak Out
#008 Nicholas Goddard-Palmer
Former Qatar Airways VP for Qatar Duty Free F&B Division & CEO of Delhi Duty Free, tells us what’s on his mind.
Nick explaining the benefits of Urban-Air Choice, the Urban-Air Port Non-Aeronautical brand, at the Urban-Air Port Cafe, in Coventry UK.
Let’s Rethink AAM Non-Aeronautical.
In April 2022, Urban-Air Port (UAP) launched Air One - a world-first demonstration of an operational hub for future electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles. Revisit the launch here: https://www.urbanairport.com/airone.
In parallel, UAP presented a vision of future non-aeronautical commercial services in the form of Urban-Air Choice (UAC), a multi functional platform aggregating all Non Aero offers from EV hire to coffees and cakes.
Keith Hunter’s (a fellow UAP Advisory Board member) blog in January of this year explored non-aeronautical revenue opportunities and how users of the Urban-Air Choice app will be able to access exclusive brands with exclusive pricing, product launches, promotional offers tailored to their travel needs, hospitality services, access to special events, and a collection of relevant services. Find it here, incase you missed it: https://www.urbanairport.com/uap-blog/aaa).
The revenue generating Urban-Air Port Cafe operated by Compass Eurest being prepared for a busy day at AirOne.
Building loyalty with millennial and GenZ customers is key, and they are looking for frictionless and immersive shopping experiences presented in a convenient and exciting manner, where they don’t have to jump between multiple sites. The development of super-apps is already gaining pace (all services within one place), with operating companies sharing both risk and profit through partnerships and collaborations whilst piggybacking onto established e-commerce sites and services.
Obviously, the front-end experience is key to the success of any app, however once the customer orders a service or product there is an expectation that it will be delivered in a timely, convenient, and efficient manner. In order to better understand the digital delivery market, we can perhaps learn from the domestic market.
Just in Time (JIT)
It is hard to imagine that companies such as Deliveroo have only been around since 2013 and that an average delivery time is now down to just 32 minutes, but can be as little as 12 minutes for local groceries.
As the AAM market starts its journey, delivery capabilities will continue to improve at pace. If we’re smart, we should start to make full use of our assets, such as utilising the evolving eVTOL capability and network that will have an ability to deliver products (and cargo), together with a mature drone delivery network, (expected to reach $64,926billion by 2032 – Global News Wire) which will service the short haul flights of around 20 minutes.
To continue capitalising on this potential, the industry needs focus on further minimalizing delivery times whilst ensuring the offer remains exciting, relevant, best possible quality, whilst adopting ethical and sustainable practices.
In the past five years, the revenue of the meal delivery market in the United States alone has increased by 204% and the number of online food orders has been growing by 300% when compared to dine-in food orders ever since 2014. (Source Zippa.com)
Groceries can now be with you between 15-60 minutes, Screwfix ‘Sprint’ can have your items to you within 60 minutes and even your favourite morning coffee can now be on your desk within 20 minutes, (a trend set to continue according to a global coffee report by Statista, who suggest that the digital coffee market is projected to reach a value of around $13.6 billion by 2027).
Taking the above into consideration illustrates the potential and future possibilities of developing AAM specific apps such as Urban-Air Choice.
Sustainable fashion brand Anatomie at the Urban-Air Port AirOne, gearing up to be ordered online and delivered by drone.
High quality, food & beverage sales at transport hubs, especially airports and therefore vertiports - helps fund the operation but also creates an enhanced passenger experience, drawing more utilisation of the hub.
Capitalising on our greatest asset – the Vertiport
It is envisaged that due to legislation, safety restrictions or simply low demand, that eVTOLs will not initially be permitted to fly 24 hours a day, which is perhaps why vertiport operators are reluctant to provide little more than elaborate hangers with minimal services and comforts. We need to perhaps take a more holistic approach to non-aeronautical revenue in this new sector and look beyond the core activity. Outside of the eVTOLs themselves the biggest asset are the vertiports and therefore we should be looking at how we can ensure that they are providing an ROI regardless of flight activity.
If the AAM sector truly wishes to realise growth it needs to rapidly upscale and quickly transition both physically and consciously into our everyday lives, constantly adapting to an ever-changing passenger profile, as well as to the environment around the vertiports themselves. This new vertiport infrastructure needs to integrate into the fabric of our communities and not simply become an upgraded terminus with a generic coffee shops and kiosks bolted on.
Outside of the core activity, opportunities exist to use the vertiports as mixed-use developments, where the public may utilise hospitality services, immersive shopping, promotional events, meeting rooms, lounge services, parcel pick up and drop off points, car charging, car parking, connectivity to other forms of ground transportation, or simply a meeting point for the local community that may even serve a light meal and selection of beverages. Vertiports should not sit in isolation but rather become a central hub of an eco-system that includes multiple transportation links, other business, educational facilities, and leisure facilities & activities that can potentially bring much needed additional revenue opportunities to all.
One of the team relaxing next to the Urban-Air Choice digital vending machine concessioned to Mother.
Urban-Air Port has over 40 brands signed up and therefore non-aeronautical revenue for the vertiport operator but also product exposure, recognition & sales for the brands is clearly showing promise.
If you are curious, contact the team at Urban-Air Port to find out more.
