The challenge
Launceston Airport had a vision to be recognised as Australia’s favourite regional airport. While the physical terminal was undergoing a sophisticated renovation to offer a more premium, ‘destination’ experience, the digital experience had fallen behind. The existing website was utilitarian, rigid, and struggled to meet the expectations of modern travellers.
Through a deep discovery phase involving passenger interviews and surveys, Luminary identified several critical pain points. Travellers were often confused by recommended check-in times, information regarding ground transport and parking costs was difficult to navigate, and contractors working at the airport struggled to find important information and documents to help them navigate a highly regulated work environment..
Internally, the airport team was limited by a Content Management System (CMS) that made publishing updates cumbersome. The airport needed a platform that was not only visually aligned with its new branding but also technically robust enough to provide real-time, accurate information to a diverse range of stakeholders.
What we did
The project began with a comprehensive discovery process to define a strategic roadmap. This included 10 deep-dive interviews and a survey of airport visitors to understand their motivations and frustrations. These insights formed the foundation of a new information architecture that combined the previously separate corporate and traveller sites into one cohesive experience.
To deliver a high-quality solution efficiently, Luminary repurposed the existing design system and component library that it had developed for Melbourne Airport – an associated entity – and customised them to fit the unique Launceston Airport brand. This allowed the team to bypass the traditional wireframing stage and move straight into a ‘live’ site creation process. Every component was meticulously adjusted to ensure it met the specific needs of the Launceston audience.
On the technical side, Luminary implemented a headless CMS using Kontent.ai. This provided the airport team with the flexibility they lacked, enabling them to easily create tourism-focused stories and manage content across multiple channels. The tech stack, built on Node.js and Next.js, was designed for speed and scalability.
The outcome
The result is a digital experience that successfully transitions Launceston Airport from a utilitarian transit point to a premier Tasmanian destination. The new website offers a premium visual experience that matches the airport’s physical terminal, featuring high-quality imagery and a simple, inviting tone of voice.
Travellers now benefit from a much more intuitive journey. By streamlining the information architecture, Luminary made it easier for passengers to find information on local experiences, dining options, and transport, while also providing a more reliable portal for airport contractors.
From an operational perspective, the move to Kontent.ai has empowered the Launceston Airport team. The component-based editing system is flexible and user-friendly, allowing for rapid content updates without technical overhead. By leveraging existing assets from the Melbourne Airport component library, Luminary delivered a best-in-class platform that achieved significant cost savings and established a new benchmark for regional airport digital experiences.
“The Luminary team was truly amazing to work with. They were super organised, excellent communicators, and everyone on the Luminary team knew their brief and delivered it each and every time. The process of sprints kept the timeline and budget on track and when we were behind schedule, they could flex to meet our needs. We could not be happier with the outcome and have received excellent feedback from all of our customer groups. The headless CMS is a game changer for us and we look forward to continuing to work with Luminary to maintain and evolve our website with us.
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