Westfield manages $US860 million of retail sales at eight large airports in the US, accounting for $US160 million of airport revenue for the company.

Eileen Hanson, the Los Angeles-based vice-president of marketing for Westfield's airport division, said the company had plenty of experience designing attractive physical environments, but now the focus was also on integrating digital technology into that.

Westfield now has a labs division in San Francisco that focuses completely on digital engagement with shopping centre customers and airport passengers.

"There are quite a few interesting pilots that they have launched in our shopping centres that we are looking at for airports as well," she told Fairfax Media.

"One of them is called Dine on Time, which is on your mobile phone [as an app]. It is piloted in the San Francisco centre right now. And you are able to order your food on your phone and have it ready for you when you go and pick it up."

She said credit card information could be pre-loaded and the restaurant would provide the length of time required before the food would be ready.

Ms Hanson said Westfield had also installed a hologram of a woman at Miami International Airport that was placed near a checkpoint and could describe to passengers the dining and retail options available once they reached the concourse.

"It is visually, I think, interesting because rather than just looking at a plain directory, she is a real filmed lady," she said. "That is an interesting use of technology that we have had success with so far. We will look at ways that we can expand that elsewhere as well."

Westfield has also installed digital touchscreen directories at Miami that can give passengers a 360-degree view of the space to help them figure out where their preferred shopping or dining option is located.

Of all of its airport projects, the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) at Los Angeles International Airport has been the largest to date. The post-security shopping and dining options opened last year. Ms Hanson said sales per square foot had grown already, even though not all of the gates at the facility would be completed until next year.

Westfield also won tenders to manage the shopping and dining options in Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 6 at the airport. At Terminal 2, which is used by Air New Zealand until it moves to TBIT in December and also by Virgin Atlantic, Hawaiian Airlines and Aeromexico, it projects sales increases of 35 per cent once the project is completed. Westfield has chosen innovative retail options, including shapewear brand Spanx and a Univision news stand linked to the Spanish-speaking television channel as a result of the Aeromexico flights.

Ms Hanson said Westfield was focused on finding the right brand mix for each individual terminal, since the passenger mix is different. At Terminal 1, used by US budget carrier Southwest, it will offer more grab-and-go food options, whereas at TBIT there are more sit-down options because passengers dwell longer.

She said Westfield was also working on ways to get passengers out of the TBIT lounges, such as the Qantas-managed oneworld lounge and Air NZ-managed Star Alliance lounge, in order to help drive spending by those potentially lucrative passengers.

"We are looking at different ways that we can partner with the lounges, frankly," she said. "Some of the lounges are interested in maybe having options to shop or have merchandise purchased from the lounge. Those aren't things that have been rolled out but those are discussions we are having to see how we can bridge the gap."

*The reporter travelled to Los Angeles as a guest of United Airlines and the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board.