Hannover Airport

Good wayfinding for passengers in Hanover

Hanover Airport is the premier destination in the north for holidaymakers and business travellers. The airport has been modernised in recent years. As part of this process, Moniteurs was commissioned to develop and implement the wayfinding system. The new spatial interconnection of the terminals, additional services and commercial offerings, as well as the increasing digitalisation of information media, placed high demands on a consistent, future-proof wayfinding system. The aim was to design wayfinding not only to be functional, but also as a holistic experience – clear, intuitive and across all media.

Han­no­ver Air­port
Wayfinding system

Client
Flughafen Hannover-Langenhagen GmbH

Area
308.000 sqm

Ca­pa­ci­ty PAX per year
5,3 Mil­lio­nen

Photos
Stefan Schilling
Passengers are guided step by step from their point of departure to their destination. Whilst on the land-side, outside the terminal buildings, all terminals are designated simply as ‘Terminals A, B, C, D’ without any distinction, the flow of information splits once passengers enter a terminal.

Starting with an analysis of the current situation and a joint workshop, Moniteurs first drew up a set of recommendations for action. These recommendations set out the criteria and objectives for the new wayfinding and orientation concept. The aim was to ensure that the digital and analogue experiences were of equal quality. The transitions between the two worlds were to be as seamless as possible, with no discrepancies in content or design.

The wayfinding system combines functionality with identity and forms the design framework for the whole of Hannover Airport.

The study of passenger flows and the analysis of specific situations based on concrete user stories enables the wayfinding and guidance system to be optimised in line with the new requirements.

A unified information chain comprising wayfinding, identifying, informative and orientational elements reliably guides all user groups from the airport entrance, through the car parks and terminals, to the gates. This is based on a standardised naming system, clear language guidelines, and design elements such as colour, typography, pictograms, product design and consistent content. In this way, the wayfinding system provides intuitive guidance and conveys Hannover Airport’s identity throughout all areas of the airport.

The deep dark blue of the primary information layer and the pure white of the secondary information layer form a calm and objective foundation.
The extensive family of pictograms was designed exclusively for Hannover Airport. The pictograms make a significant contribution to the graphic identity of the wayfinding system and to the holistic, overarching design concept.
The design language of the pictograms is derived both from the architecture and from the typeface used in Hannover Airport’s wayfinding and orientation system. For example, the letter ‘o’ serves as the template for all the curves in the pictograms, whilst the slants and angles echo the polygonal shapes of Terminals A, B and C.