All passengers satisfied and on time

Abstract

Schiphol has the ambition to become Europe’s preferred airport within five years. Due to the increasing competitive climate, it becomes progressively important for airports to enhance passenger satisfaction. Schiphol wants to do this by differentiating from its competitors through excellent service and customer satisfaction. Information and wayfinding on the airport is considered of great importance to these aspects. The I&W system at Schiphol has always been rated as ‘high quality’ and several awards have been obtained with an important aspect of the current system; the familiar yellow signs. Schiphol even received a price for the best airport in Europe in 2012 (Skytrex, 2012). Due to the awards and high ranking compared to other European airports, I&W at Schiphol was considered as ‘good’ and did not get the priority it might have needed over the past years. This caused the I&W system to grow without a clear direction and Schiphol has lost its leading position to important competitors like London Heathrow. Factors like new technologies and changing passengers needs concerning I&W ask for an evaluation of the current I&W system at Schiphol to indicate the performance and determine priorities for improvement. This thesis gives insight in which aspects of the I&W system at Schiphol need to be improved to increase passenger satisfaction and become Europe’s preferred airport again.