At Heathrow we are committed to being an extraordinary airport, fit for the future. This can only be achieved if we meet our strategy to provide a fully accessible airport for all passengers.
Delivering ‘Accessible Heathrow’ seeks to achieve service equivalence with overall passenger satisfaction levels and enable us to fulfil our foundation of Excellent Service and Operations. Heathrow has a significant opportunity to better tailor our services to passenger needs - moving beyond a pure mobility-based assessment of needs and barriers, to incorporate covering the sensory, neurological, cognitive, psychological and physical aspects.
Lift Off Q3 event will be held at our head office in Hounslow on Sep 22nd. The theme for our event is Accessibility. For this event, we’re inviting SMEs to showcase innovative solutions that can help us continue to remove barriers to accessibility. We are particularly interested in solutions which support and enable passengers by delivering choices and freedom to control their own journey – helping them feel safe, independent, and confident in fully participating in the airport experience, while also ensuring they have access to space and privacy when needed. The key areas we’d like to explore include:
Sensory mitigation solutions-increasing the availability of calm spaces and/or reducing negative sensory impacts (audio or visual).
Passengers benefit from clearly identified, peaceful areas within terminals where they can relax or recharge, especially if experiencing sensory sensitivity or heightened emotions. We welcome solutions such as innovative acoustic designs, nonintrusive moveable partitioning, or other sensory-supportive features.
Passengers can sometimes find the variety and volume of digital displays (wayfinding, flight information, marketing, advertising, etc.) visually overwhelming. We are looking for innovative solutions that streamline the digital environment by reducing visual noise or providing evidence-based approaches to prioritise and organise content, creating a clear and effective hierarchy that enhances customer satisfaction.
Navigation aids which enable accessible choices to be made independently by Passengers removing the need to rely on ‘following the crowd’.
Passengers can find it difficult to identify the most suitable places to sit and wait that align with their personal needs. We welcome solutions that help guide passengers to areas that best match their preferences (e.g. quieter zones, proximity to amenities like food and beverage outlets, restrooms, prayer rooms, gates) supporting a more relaxed and confident journey through the terminal (eg: autonomous wayfinding trolleys, wayfinding signage systems that target at different demographic groups, etc).
We are not looking for a digital tool used to provide directions, or smart maps. Instead, we’re looking for innovation that empowers passengers to understand their options and independently navigate to the spaces that best meet their personal needs.
Innovations in accessibility of Food & Beverage or Retail.
Passengers may face barriers in accessing retail and food & beverage offerings due to mobility challenges, sensory sensitivities, cognitive or language differences, or physical dexterity limitations. We welcome innovative solutions (e.g. universally accessible vending or self-service options) designed to accommodate a wide range of needs.
Accessible communication catering for a broad Passenger demographic enabling awareness and understanding of tailored journey options.
Currently many passengers are still unaware of different accessibility features offered in Terminals and may not feel empowered to access information to understand or tailor their journey in advance. This impacts their ability to make decisions on opportunities for independence or specific assistance requirements throughout their entire journey.
Following link demonstrates our Tailored Travel Guide that is currently being built: Heathrow PRS Questionnaire - UI Prototype - 14 May 2025. We invite ideas to enrich the information it provides to enhance passenger experience. Solutions might look like Innovative communications designed with disabled passengers in mind, different mediums to communicate journey options (e.g. interactive videos, cartoons, or ways of creating and sharing community generated content).
Reimagined passive waiting zones as ‘Enablement Hubs’.
Passive waiting zones or ‘Host areas’ can often feel isolating to Passengers who are unable to access the full airport experience (eg: a wheelchair user who is taken to the waiting zone prior to their flight). We welcome ideas for transforming these to make for a more pleasant and fulfilling waiting experience or enable fuller access to the airport’s amenities.
The Q3 Lift Off opportunity can be accessed via our CompeteFor microsite: https://www.competefor.com/heathrow/opportunities/
The deadline for applications is 30th July 2025 at 5pm.
If you have any questions or encounter any difficulties with the application, please contact sme-engagement@heathrow.com
