Passengers' perceptions of airline lounges: Importance of attributes that determine usage and service quality measurement

Abstract

The current exploratory study investigates passengers' perceptions of airline lounges by measuring the importance of attributes that determine usage and service quality in those facilities. Data collection was the result of a survey of airline lounge users at the Incheon International Airport, South Korea. The attributes that determine airline lounge usage categorize as: image and accessibility, atmosphere, food and beverage (F&B) service, and facility's dimensions. Atmosphere and F&B service prove to be the most important dimensions affecting passengers' use of the airline lounge. Service quality variables determining passengers' perceptions of the airline lounge categorize as: atmosphere, F&B service, employee service, and facility's dimensions. Among the service quality dimensions, F&B service was the strongest predictor of overall satisfaction and lounge revisit intention. Furthermore, the study considers the relationship of overall satisfaction and lounge revisit intention according to airline selection. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.