Dublin Airport Delivers an Integrated, Omnichannel Experience with Sitefinity

Dublin Airport is the leading gateway into the Republic of Ireland, hosting over 31 million passengers in 2019 and with over 2,000 flights per week and direct connections to cities across Europe, the United Kingdom, United States, the Middle East and Asia. 

“Dublin Airport has a unique position in the hearts and minds of people in Ireland,” said Sinead Quish, Head of Consumer and Digital Marketing, Dublin Airport, “It’s often the first hello and the last goodbye. So, there are many emotional experiences happening at the Airport.”

Dublin Airport’s website is key to providing passengers with fast access to information. A Progress® Sitefinity® customer since 2010, Dublin Airport had already deployed a responsive website, but still had a number of legacy micro sites. The continued rise of mobile-device usage and the need to strengthen the single domain website required a mobile-first design and the consolidation of four legacy corporate websites into one integrated, passenger-friendly experience. The business team expected the new experience to deliver uninterrupted performance to ensure a seamless end-user and customer experience. 

Working with Sitefinity partner, Arekibo, the team harnessed Sitefinity to develop a modular/component structure to manage shared content across the site, from FAQ’s and safety, to travel information. This allowed Dublin Airport to centrally manage and update its content and easily distribute it across channels, including web and mobile. 

“The platform has delivered the scalability, feature set and product roadmap that has enabled the Airport to continuously deliver an integrated suite of services,” said Fergal McHugh, Head of Strategy, Arekibo.

Key integrations with third-party systems spanned APIs managing flight information—including arrivals and departures, and integrating API’s to book parking, fast track through airport security and lounges. Sitefinity even connected with its multi-campaign marketing platform. The new website content and design was also coordinated with its revamped mobile app, streamlining the customer journey across desktop and mobile to deliver a true omnichannel experience.

The project further addressed key areas of concern including load balancing, roles and permissions, content analysis, personalization and workflows. 

The new experience centered around the needs and preferences of customers, and they noticed. Dublin Airport achieved significant increases in page traffic and referrals to third-party booking systems. Mobile traffic increased from 65% of all average monthly traffic to nearly 75%, a testament to the improved mobile experience. 

With the hardened security features in Sitefinity, Dublin Airport won recognition from ImmuniWeb as one of the three most secure international airports. While 97/100 international airports have security risks related to vulnerable web and mobile applications, Dublin Airport ensures customer security and safety using Sitefinity.

Airport Club, the frequent and business traveler service has been integrated into the website, allowing easy purchase of membership without ever leaving the airport website.  This omnichannel experience had an immediate positive impact on online sales – growing mobile revenue by nearly 40%. 

Quish put it best, “We now have an integrated digital ecosystem because of our mobile-first dublinairport.com, key marketing database and app integrations and Sitefinity. It’s revolutionized how we communicate with customers.”