INFLUENCE OF PASSENGER PERCEPTION TOWARDS PERCEIVED SERVICE PERFORMANCE OF BANDARANAYAKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Abstract

Service quality is an important aspect of airport management. As such, it reflects its evolution from a primary focus on facilities and operations to a primary focus on delivering a passenger-focused service experience. This research was inspired by the need to assess overall airport performance based on the complete passenger experience from departure to arrival terminals – a need that has not yet been addressed in the research to date. Current models of airport service performance segment the role of passenger experience at airports in individual service areas of passengers and address said shortcoming by focusing on passenger-driven experiences and their underlying service attributes. Specifically, it investigates the question: “How do passenger-centered indicators translate the complete passenger experience in assessing airport service performance?” To determine the impact of passenger-centered indicators on airport service performance, the first data analysis of responses from 303 participating passengers from Bandaranayake International Airport Colombo concentrates on the investigation of important service factors and their respective service attributes. The research results of the analysis uncover two causal relationships between each set of airport domains (i.e., processing and non processing domains) and overall service performance. These domains are represented by several service factors and their underlying service attributes. Thus, the findings from the two analyses were used to refine the conceptual model and consolidated in the Taxonomy of passenger activities (TOPA) Model and its configuration of passenger-centered indicators.