European airports are entering a structurally different era. For decades, financial viability was underpinned by dynamic traffic growth. But as ACI EUROPE’s latest analysis makes clear, that assumption can no longer be taken for granted. In a lower-growth, higher-cost, and ultimately more volatile environment, the question is no longer simply how many passengers pass through a terminal – but how much value each passenger represents.

Within this context, airport lounges are emerging as areas of the terminal with incredibly rich potential. The ACI EUROPE Task Force on Airport Lounges, a subgroup of the ACI EUROPE Commercial Forum, is tasked with exploring this potential in further detail. In this Five Minute Feature, we ask the co-Rapporteurs of the ACI EUROPE Task Force on Airport Lounges – Thomas Kaneko Henningsen (Partner, Blueprint) and Lasse Berg (Director, Newmark’s Travel and Aviation Division) – on the Task Force’s rich insights into the power of airport lounges and their strategic importance moving forward.

A new survey suggests travelers are becoming more value‑conscious in airport shops—unsurprising given the spiraling cost of air travel last year, with further increases likely as the geopolitical situation in the Middle East pushes costs higher. With travel budgets squeezed, passengers have less to spend in the terminals.

France-based Duty Free World Council (DFWC)—the global voice for the duty- and tax-free industry—cites value and convenience as becoming more important to travelers in 2025. DFWC’s full-year Global Shopping Monitor found that ‘good value for money’ was the main driver for 27% of shoppers, up from 25% in 2024. And convenience and the desire to self-treat also saw year-on-year gains, rising to 21% and 18% respectively.

As these factors grow in importance, stakeholders in the airport shopping sector have not done enough to give consumers more confidence around value. The DFWC monitor said the channel “continues to face challenges around price perception which remains a barrier to purchase.”

Airport retail remains largely analogue in a digitally accelerated world. It has historically relied on a simple yet highly successful formula: traffic × dwell time × impulse × duty-free pricing. In other words; sell cheaper, sell more, sell faster.

According to the Copenhagen-based travel retail consultancy Blueprint, that formula which has been relevant for decades no longer guarantees conversion and spend as airports increasingly welcome Gen Z. These younger mobile-first shoppers are forecasted to become the biggest traveler profile by 2028 and their appetite for AI-powered shopping is accelerating. This customer profile isn’t just an enigma that airports struggle to crack, they are a preview of what is happening: the transformation of airport shopping.

“Airport shopping has shifted permanently; this is a wake-up call” says Blueprint Partner Thomas Kaneko Henningsen following the consultancy’s attendance at the recent Trinity Forum in Doha.

“This shift is increasingly fueled by the transformative rise in Gen Z shoppers and AI-powered technologies. It should send shivers down our spines because when these two megatrends intertwine it requires a new travel retail playbook.”

Airport retail remains largely analogue in a digitally accelerated world. It has historically relied on a simple yet highly successful formula: traffic × dwell time × impulse × duty-free pricing. In other words; sell cheaper, sell more, sell faster.

According to the Copenhagen-based travel retail consultancy Blueprint, that formula which has been relevant for decades no longer guarantees conversion and spend as airports increasingly welcome Gen Z. These younger mobile-first shoppers are forecasted to become the biggest traveler profile by 2028 and their appetite for AI-powered shopping is accelerating. This customer profile isn’t just an enigma that airports struggle to crack, they are a preview of what is happening: the transformation of airport shopping.

Blueprint is closing 2025 on a high note. The Copenhagen-based travel retail consultancy has delivered another year of growth focusing on helping airports, retailers and brands rethink what comes next.

Thomas Kaneko Henningsen, Blueprint Partner, said, “I do not recall experiencing this degree of unpredictability, instability and rapid change on a global scale during my 25 years in this industry. We are at a critical crossroad where the old travel retail playbook is being phased out and replaced by a new one shaped by younger lifestyle travelers, AI (artificial intelligence) technology, experiential retail, social commerce and highly volatile geopolitics.”

Copenhagen-based consultancy Blueprint is deepening its efforts to bring the duty free and travel retail (DF&TR) industry actionable insights on appealing to Gen Z shoppers, by assembling a panel of consultants from the generation to advise on projects for clients.

“At Blueprint, we believe the best way to anticipate younger shoppers’ impact on travel retail is to invite them into the strategy room,” said Blueprint Partners Sonja Soskic, Karl Walter and Thomas Kaneko-Henningsen.

“Welcoming the next generation of thinkers is a dynamic way to future-proof our work by unlocking raw insight, cultural fluency and mobile-first instincts that challenge old assumptions and shape new perspectives. It is a breath of fresh air.”

The move underscores the influence of Gen Z and how they are expected to make their mark on the travel retail industry in the coming years.

According to m1nd-set research, there are 2.5 billion Gen Z globally – that’s 32% of the population.

Furthermore, Gen Z is expected to account for 1.2 billion  global passengers flying in 2028, when they are on track to outnumber millennials as the largest global airline passenger group.

Business development consultancy Blueprint has become a shareholder in Indivd, a Stockholm-based artificial intelligence (AI) technology company pioneering privacy-first analytics.

The partnership signals a key step forward in Blueprint’s vision of how AI will reshape the airport shopping journey, evolving it from transactional retail into predictable, hyper-personalised and memorable traveller experiences.

“By uniting Blueprint’s strategic foresight with Indivd’s patented and GDPR-compliant AI technology, we have implemented a powerful capability; tracking and predicting shopping behaviour and turning findings into actionable recommendations for airports, retailers and brands,” commented Blueprint partner Karl Walter.

“The best part is that this set-up is easy-to-use, cheap to run and comes with the highest degree of accuracy.”