Increased revenue and improved parking operations at Columbia Metropolitan Airport
What was the problem?
Columbia Metropolitan Airport were challenged in filling the occupancy of both their surface and garage parking products.
The low occupancy rates were impacting their ability to generate non-aeronautical revenue, which is vital for the airport’s overall growth.
Without a solution to improve parking utilisation, the airport risked missing out on valuable income, essential for sustaining and expanding its operations.
What we did to help
To address this challenge, Columbia Metropolitan Airport partnered with us to drive growth through our Intelligent Performance Commercial Services.
Our solution combined targeted marketing strategies and advanced revenue management to increase traffic to the booking site and yield from the parking products.
Marketing strategy
We implemented a paid social media campaign on Facebook (Meta) to reach new audiences, raising awareness of the parking offerings at Columbia Metropolitan Airport. This effort was designed to drive a significant volume of web traffic to the airport’s parking booking site (booking.flycae.com).
CRM email marketing
To maximise customer retention and encourage repeat bookings, we developed targeted CRM email campaigns. We utilised Wi-Fi sign-up data to build an opt-in database of frequent travellers, creating a robust foundation for marketing. These campaigns were also integrated with paid social efforts, allowing us to test and refine messaging and create look-alike audiences of high-value customers.
Through this CRM platform, we were able to test different types of content and copy, especially focusing on messaging around “planning for the next trip.” This approach resulted in a +42% improvement in click-through rates compared to control campaigns. As a result, we successfully increased engagement and bookings year on year.
Revenue Management
Alongside marketing, we used revenue management strategies to optimise parking pricing and maximise yield from the traffic generated through the paid social and CRM campaigns. This ensured that the airport could make the most of the increased web traffic, optimising occupancy rates across parking lots.
Results
Our efforts significantly improved Columbia Metropolitan Airport’s marketing performance and pre-booking revenue.
Marketing performance
Between February 2023 and February 2025, the number of sessions to Columbia Metropolitan Airport’s parking booking site increased by 97%. A significant 67% of this traffic boost was driven by CAVU’s paid social campaigns on Facebook.
Additionally, the airport’s CRM database experienced impressive growth, expanding from approximately 7,000 to 77,000 contacts, which marked a 43% year-on-year increase from February 2024 to February 2025.
This growth in the database contributed to a 37% rise in unique clicks coming to the booking site from the CRM email campaigns, highlighting a clear boost in customer engagement.
Bookings from these CRM email campaigns also saw a dramatic increase, with monthly bookings rising from around 20+ in 2023 to over 150+ a month in early 2025.
Pre-book parking performance
In terms of pre-booked parking performance, the airport saw a remarkable 259% year-on-year increase in gross revenue over the last 12 months, while the number of parking bookings also grew by 258% year on year.
The effectiveness of the marketing and revenue management strategies was further demonstrated by a 17% year-on-year increase in market penetration and a 29% increase in yield.
The growth wasn’t limited to specific parking products, as all parking lots and stay durations saw improvements, with particularly strong results for longer lead times (1+ months), which helped to significantly improve occupancy levels.
“The team at CAVU is in a league of their own. With a deep understanding of the industry, they have been instrumental in transforming parking at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport with their pre-book capabilities. Their meticulous data collection and reporting allow our team to quickly see areas of improvement or, like in my case, areas where we’ve excelled beyond set benchmarks. We have enjoyed this partnership and look forward to continuing it in the future.”
— Kim J. Crafton, Director of Marketing & Air Service Development
What does the future hold for Columbia Metropolitan Airport and CAVU?
Moving forward, Columbia Metropolitan Airport plans to continue driving growth with CAVU.
The next steps include further enhancing the customer experience through refined marketing strategies, expanding the CRM database, and testing new revenue management techniques.
By maintaining a focus on optimising parking occupancy and yield, the airport aims to further solidify its position as a leader in passenger and parking services.
This partnership between CAVU and Columbia Metropolitan Airport highlights how targeted marketing and advanced revenue management strategies can work hand-in-hand to drive substantial growth and operational success.
