The Trinity Forum: Airport Investment
Tomorrow’s airports today
Several ambitious and exciting airport projects from around the world took the spotlight on day two at Trinity 2023.
Vienna Airport Senior Vice President, Center Management Philipp Ahrens, Kansai Airports Corporate EVP and CCO Non Aeronautical Stephane Geffroy and Western Sydney Airport General Manager Retail Glyn Williams shared the thinking behind their respective new developments, which will provide big opportunities for retailers, F&B companies and brands.
Ahrens detailed Vienna Airport’s Terminal 3 extension project, which will see it grow to 70,000sq m, including a retail and F&B offer which will see space increased by +50% to 30,000sq m. Construction has commenced, with the opening scheduled for 2027.
About 50% of the upgraded terminal’s traffic will come via Austrian Airlines and its partners and about 30% provided by low-cost airlines.
This guest mix, Ahrens said, “makes it challenging to have the right offer. A focus of the commercial area will be on Austrian Sense of Place, particularly through the gastronomy offer. With the retail and F&B mix we will cater for all budgets.
A trio of exciting projects that will deliver commercial opportunities came to life for delegates; below, from left, Glyn Williams (Western Sydney Airport), Stephane Geffroy (Kansai Airports) and Philipp Ahrens (Vienna Airport)
“Of course we will have a luxury element, but it will not be all about luxury – like we have seen at Doha Airport in Qatar, we want to have something for each and every travelling guest in our airport.”
Ahrens added: “This is a unique opportunity now to create a new shopping experience for our travellers and we are excited about the challenges ahead to create that. We plan to deliver a new atmosphere as far as shopping and dining is concerned, with a strong flavour of Austrian hospitality. It will really have the look and feel and Sense of Place you would expect in a modern airport.”
Geffroy presented on another ambitious terminal redevelopment project at Kansai International Airport. The airport served over 30 million passengers in 2019, 25 million of them international.
Opening next month (December 2023), the project in Terminal 1 involves taking space from the domestic passenger area and incorporating it into a much-expanded area for international passengers. It will feature a 2,500sq m walkthrough duty free area, nine luxury retail units covering 1,950sq m plus other retail, eight F&B venues and a ‘sky bar’.
The commercial features are spread over four separate areas, each with their own distinctive “design by mood”.
“We had reached saturation point in terms of accommodating the international passenger segment,” said Geffroy. “That was the fundamental reason for the renovation; we are using this opportunity to create new capacity, simplify the passenger flow through a single area [previously there were two] to make it much more straightforward and understandable for travellers.
“It is also the perfect opportunity to create a renewed retail, F&B and hospitality experience ahead of the Osaka Expo in 2025. We will have +60% more airside space for international passengers, including room for five additional gates.”
The renovation is the first phase of the international terminal expansion project, with a second phase featuring additional commercial elements scheduled for completion in late 2026.
Williams gave a compelling presentation on the ambitious development at the new Western Sydney Airport, described as Australia’s “future gateway to the world”. It is the biggest airport development in Australia for more than 30 years.
The airport has the potential to serve 82 million passengers annually but will open in 2026 with an initial capacity of ten million. Excitingly, a new city named Bradfield is being developed alongside it.
Williams promised a “seamless retail experience, designed with the customer at its heart”. The international and domestic retail offer will feature a 1,800sq m of duty free for international arrivals and departures, a total of 7,000sq m additional leasable retail space and over 40 F&B venues.
There is still a lot of lead time for interested commercial partners to get involved, Williams emphasised, noting that Expressions of Interest (EoI) process remains open via the airport website. “There will be about 12 to 14 RFPs (Request for Proposals) to launch progressively, the first RFP will probably be duty free, to be launched somewhere in the first half of next year, subject to Board approval.
“We are two and a half years from opening so that gives us plenty of time to stagger the RFPs for retail, F&B, lounges, advertising, car parking management etc. We have 4000sq m of lounge space, so we’re going to need to engage with partners very, very early on.”
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The Moodie Davitt eZine
Issue 329 | 22 November 2023
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