The Trinity Forum – ACI ANARA
Unlocking value from non-aeronautical revenues
To coincide with The Trinity Forum, co-organiser Airports Council International (ACI) World published a guide to strategies that can elevate the passenger experience and unlock commercial opportunities amid fast-paced digital change.
The Airport Commercial Digital Transformation Best Practices provides timely insights to support infrastructure developments and enhance the passenger journey, with airport commercial revenues accounting for nearly 40% of global airport incomes. It was developed by airport commercial and digital experts, members of the Sub-Committee on Non-Aeronautical Activities and Revenues (ANARA) at ACI World.
In a key Trinity session ANARA members also outlined special reports spanning digitalisation, airport retail, lounges and sustainability. These were led respectively by GrayMatter Software Chief Executive Officer Vikas Gupta; Avolta Chief Executive Officer Southern Europe Isabel Zarza; Airport Dimensions Global Strategy Director Stephen Hay and ARI Middle East Projects & Design Manager Tracy Ross.
The ACI ANARA group met in strong numbers at The Trinity Forum
ACI World Director, Economic Policy & Sustainability and ANARA Secretary Slava Cheglatonyev and Paccaya Resources CEO Andrew Ford took delegates through the wider goals of the ANARA working group. Cheglatonyev also took a deep dive into the latest passenger traffic and non-aeronautical numbers and trends across global airports.
He noted that challenging market conditions are severely hitting commercial incomes as the travel industry continues to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis.
According to ACI World’s preliminary figures, garnered from more than 1,000 global airports accounting for 82.7% of passenger traffic in 2019, non-aeronautical revenues in 2023 lagged -21% behind the pre-COVID number, despite a passenger shortfall of just -5%.
ACI World Director, Economic Policy & Sustainability and ANARA Secretary Slava Cheglatonyev (left) presented the latest data on non-aeronautical activity performance across world airports; Paccaya Resources CEO Andrew Ford assessed ANARA Committee progress
The issue was even more pronounced in Asia Pacific, where non-aeronautical revenues trailed the 2019 number in 2023 by an alarming -31%, despite passenger numbers being just -11% in arrears.
These numbers were closely mirrored when considering retail revenues only, with the segment down globally -24% (including Asia Pacific -30%) comparing 2023 to 2019. This came despite growth in the value of airport property and real estate of +2% globally and +13% in Asia Pacific.
The ACI World data showed non-aeronautical revenues’ share of overall global airport revenues fell from 40% in 2019 to 37% in 2023.
Key findings from the ACI study of non-aviation revenues plus passenger traffic recovery
Notably, in Asia Pacific, non-aeronautical revenues are no longer the primary source of airport revenues. They stood at 49% of total revenues in 2019, ahead of aeronautical revenues (46%) and non-operating revenues (5%) but for 2023 fell to 42%, trumped by aeronautical revenues at 52%.
Retail concessions are no longer the primary source of non-aeronautical revenues globally, falling from a 27% share in 2019 to a 20% share in 2023. Food & beverage remained static with a 6% share in the two highlighted years.
Once again, the disparity between global figures and Asia Pacific was pronounced, with retail concessions falling from 44% of airport non-aeronautical revenues in 2019 to 33% in 2023.
Airport Dimensions Global Strategy Director Stephen Hay (above) highlighted the fast-growing lounge element of the airport commercial mix; (below) Avolta Chief Executive Officer Southern Europe Isabel Zarza discussed passenger-tracking technologies and airport dwell time; GrayMatter Software Chief Executive Officer Vikas Gupta highlighted the power of digital transformation and ARI Middle East Projects & Design Manager Tracy Ross talked about the challenges for airports and travel retail businesses in implementing sustainable strategies
Passenger traffic recovery
On a more positive note, ACI World’s data showed global passenger traffic from January-September 2024 exceeded the comparable year-to-date number in 2019 by +0.8% and rose +9% against the equivalent period of 2023.
The data also showed a strong long-term outlook for global air passenger growth, with numbers projected to reach 23.2 billion by 2052, some 2.4 times more passengers than are projected to be recorded in 2024 (9.5 billion).
Asia Pacific leads projected air passenger CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) for 2024-2052, at +5.8%. The equivalent figures for the other regions are the Middle East +4.7%, Africa +4.6%, Latin America/Caribbean +3.6%, Europe +3.6% and North America +2.7%.
ACI World also highlighted the strongly positive outlook for Vietnam, with passenger numbers expected to reach 451 million annually in 2052, some 3.5 times the 2024 level.
The airport trade body predicts that Vietnam will soar from 20th place for total passenger traffic volume in 2023 to tenth place in 2052.
The ACI view of passenger traffic evolution including (above) the projected rise of Vietnam to top ten market status by 2052
The speakers gather for a group shot post-session as One Red Kite hosts the latest coffee break
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The Moodie Davitt eZine
Issue 341 | 4 December 2024
The Moodie Davitt eZine is published 14 times per year by The Moodie Davitt Report (MA Travel Retail). © All material is copyright and cannot be reproduced without the permission of the Publisher. To find out more visit www.moodiedavittreport.com and to subscribe, please e-mail kristyn@moodiedavittreport.com