King Phalo Airport
- Client
- King Phalo Airport
- Services
- Architecture
- Sector
- Aviation + Transport
- Location
- East London, South Africa
Passenger experience and space planning for a regional airport
King Phalo Airport is a regional single-terminal airport in East London, Eastern Cape, serving a predominantly domestic, price-sensitive market. Fragmented concessions, declining lounge revenue, and an absence of clear commercial identity had reduced dwell time, passenger engagement, and per-head spend across retail, food and beverage, and advertising. Benoy undertook a commercial strategy review and commercial space planning exercise, including an advertising strategy, across the approximately 9,000m² terminal.
<1 mppa
9,000m²
Centralising retail and dwell
The strategy introduces centralised retail and dwell zones that combine food and beverage, seating, and retail in a single coherent environment, improving passenger flow, visibility, and commercial performance. Local culture and regional identity are embedded throughout to strengthen the airport’s sense of place and differentiate the offer from generic airport retail.
Advertising as a revenue stream
A targeted digital and programmatic advertising strategy, positioned at key passenger touchpoints, increases engagement and unlocks new non-aeronautical revenue streams that the airport’s existing fragmented concession model had not captured. The result is a cohesive, experience-led commercial framework that integrates retail, food and beverage, and advertising within improved passenger flows, increasing dwell time, engagement, and spend while supporting efficient airport operations.
