Airports face a critical design challenge: moving surging passenger volumes through complex operations while maintaining positive experiences. Within that pressure lies an overlooked opportunity: rethinking how queues shape the entire journey.
In her recent article for Airport World magazine, Charlotte Aviation Studio Leader Zoë Fisher examines why airports must adopt a fundamentally different approach to waiting. While theme parks engineer queues as experiences—entertainment, distraction, preparation—airports have historically treated them as inevitable friction.
Fisher outlines how this design philosophy compounds across every touchpoint: how passengers feel, how they move and what they expect. She reveals key strategies that help airports transform operational constraints into competitive advantages, creating facilities that perform efficiently while elevating the passenger experience at every stage.
Her perspective challenges airports to design for the moments that matter most, managing congestion with intentionality, and building passenger trust through purposeful design.
Read the article, entitled “Taking cues from theme parks,” located here.
