Unlocking the
Commercial Value
of Airline Passengers
How a proprietary passenger intelligence algorithm transforms ancillary revenue, competitive strategy, and airport negotiations for airlines.
A New Intelligence Layer for Transit Environments
E23 is a behavioural intelligence platform built from the ground up for high-traffic transit environments -- airports and railway stations. Our proprietary algorithm ingests official origin-destination passenger data and turns it into actionable, real-time passenger flow profiles: who is in the terminal, where they flew in from, where they are heading next, how long they will dwell, and how they move through commercial zones.
This is not footfall counting. It is not camera-based tracking. It is a software-only intelligence layer -- cost-effective to deploy, infinitely scalable, and fully GDPR compliant by design. Every new airport or station we onboard trains the model further, compounding accuracy and value over time.
"We don't count people. We understand travellers -- and we give airlines the tools to act on that understanding in real time."
Reach the Right Passenger at the Exact Right Moment
Ancillary revenue is now a critical pillar of airline economics -- lounge upgrades, duty-free partnerships, ground transport, hotel bookings, premium service add-ons. The challenge has always been timing and precision: reaching the right passenger, at the right moment, with the right offer.
E23 solves this at a level of granularity that simply does not exist today. Our algorithm identifies, in real time, the commercial profile of every passenger in the terminal -- their route, their fare class segment, their dwell window, and their position relative to commercial zones.
A high-yield business traveller originating from Milan lands at Heathrow with 90 minutes to their connecting gate. E23 identifies their profile and dwell window in real time. The airline can immediately trigger a targeted lounge upgrade offer through their mobile app, or serve a personalised DOOH message as the passenger passes a partner retail zone. The offer is relevant, timely, and delivered without any manual intervention.
Capability → Benefit
| Capability | Airline Benefit |
|---|---|
| Real-time passenger profiling by route and fare segment | Trigger personalised upsell at the exact moment of maximum receptivity |
| Dwell time and zone-level location intelligence | Serve targeted DOOH creative to the right audience in the right terminal zone |
| Integration with programmatic DOOH and DSPs | Automate offer delivery at scale across every partner airport |
| Anonymous, GDPR-compliant data layer | Zero privacy risk, zero regulatory exposure -- compliant by architecture |
Know Which Routes Deliver Commercial Value -- Not Just Ticket Revenue
E23's origin-destination data gives airlines a commercial intelligence capability that today requires expensive bespoke studies -- or doesn't exist at all. The platform reveals which routes generate the highest-value dwell-time activity in airport commercial zones, distinguishing commercially productive passengers from pure transit traffic.
This intelligence feeds three critical strategic decisions:
Route Planning
Quantify the commercial productivity of each route, not just seat yield. A route that consistently delivers high-spending, long-dwell passengers may be far more strategically valuable than its ticket revenue suggests.
Lounge & Infrastructure Investment
Identify which origin markets consistently produce premium passengers and direct lounge capacity and amenity investments where they'll generate the greatest return.
Partner Negotiations
Demonstrate to duty-free operators, F&B concessions, and retail partners that specific airline routes deliver disproportionate commercial value -- creating leverage for better revenue-share terms.
Airlines currently negotiate with airports and concessionaires on the basis of estimated passenger volumes. E23 replaces estimates with verified commercial behaviour data -- a fundamentally different position at the negotiating table.
Turn Data Asymmetry Into a Negotiating Advantage
Airlines pay significant fees to airports -- landing charges, terminal fees, and revenue-sharing arrangements tied to commercial activity. These negotiations have historically been asymmetric: airports hold the footfall data, airlines hold the ticket data, and neither party sees the full picture of commercial value generated by specific passenger flows.
E23 changes this dynamic entirely. For the first time, an airline can walk into airport fee negotiations with route-level and segment-level data proving that their passengers generate outsized commercial value in retail, F&B, and duty-free zones.
Fee Renegotiation
Concrete, data-backed evidence that certain airline traffic drives retail revenues above the terminal average -- justifying reduced fee structures or enhanced service agreements.
Slot Allocation
Evidence that high-commercial-value routes deserve preferential slot timing in peak retail windows.
Co-investment Cases
A quantified business case for joint airline-airport investment in specific terminal zones or passenger experience improvements tied to measurable commercial uplift.
The Aviation Sector's Programmatic Reckoning Is Coming
DOOH is the fastest-growing advertising format globally. Programmatic media buying is forcing a reckoning across every channel that still sells on assumptions rather than verified audience data. Aviation is not exempt -- it is simply later to the party.
Airlines that move early to instrument their passenger flows with real commercial intelligence will hold a structural advantage: better ancillary conversion, better partner terms, and better strategic data than any competitor still running on estimated averages.
E23 is the only platform purpose-built to deliver this capability at airport and railway scale -- without hardware infrastructure, without privacy risk, and with the ability to go live at a new venue within days of onboarding.
No airline today can tell you, in real time, that a high-yield passenger from their most valuable route is currently 40 metres from a duty-free entrance with 80 minutes to boarding. E23 can.
See how media agencies use E23 airport data for DOOH campaign intelligence.
Agency Solutions →Request a Tailored Demonstration
E23 welcomes the opportunity to present a tailored demonstration to any airline partner. A proof-of-concept can be structured around a single airport or a specific commercial objective -- ancillary uplift, competitive flow intelligence, or airport fee renegotiation support.
Alessandro Lo Piano
Founder & CEO, E23