RETAIL/F&B

Heinemann Australia has relaunched its Heinemann & Me Loyalty Programme in its Sydney Airport international and forthcoming domestic airport stores, The initiative enables personalised customer experiences and offers experience that rewards customers for their loyalty and repeat business. It notes that passengers now have access to over 500 luxury and premium brands covering everything from […]

SSP Group is to open seven new Point stores at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, offering passengers a range of food options en route to their departure gates. Six of the new stores are compact units, while a larger unit will also serve as a kitchen to serve the other outlets. All will be located across various […]

Hong Kong International Airport’s Sky Bridge has its own cocktail bar after today’s opening of ‘Intervals’ by the Plaza Premium Group. PPG boldly promises that the first-of-its-kind concept will offer “an unparalleled world-class cocktail and dining experience”. Indeed, it describes as Intervals as being a destination in its own right, offering “a creative concept that […]

Ever Rich Duty Free has partnered with William Grant and Tasa Meng on a Glenfiddich Perpetual Collection promotion at Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport. To support the launch, the brand’s ground-breaking immersive Perpetual Collection pop-up concept has been installed in Terminal 2 and will be onsite until February 28. “This collection is Glenfiddich’s biggest launch in […]

Sydney Airport’s new luxury precinct is now home to Louis Vuitton’s first retail travel store in the southern hemisphere, as well as Gentle Monster’s first store in the region. The brand’s largest stand-alone travel retail store in the world offers a broad selection of premium women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, shoes, leather goods, accessories, watches, jewellery […]

TGI Fridays has launched its first airport branch in the Middle East at Bahrain International Airport (BIA). Bahrain Airport Company (BAC) CEO, Mohamed Yousif Al Binfalah, attended the opening ceremony alongside other officials. Offering an open kitchen concept and contemporary décor, the restaurant can accommodate 118 guests at any one time. Alongside a wide selection […]

Fluent Commerce’s senior vice president of global sales, Rob Shaw, suggests some potential solutions to create a seamless airport shopping experience. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the globe in ways that could not have been predicted – hitting the travel industry especially hard.  And it goes without saying that the lack of travellers has had a […]

Lagardère Travel Retail opened two new stores at Melbourne Airport this week – a LEGO store and Tech2Go outlet. Located in Terminal 4, the new LEGO store is expected to prove popular with both kids and their parents, while the Tech2Go  is said to be the “go-to place for customers seeking out new and exciting […]

Lagardère Travel Retail has joined forces with Four Pillars to bring a pop-up gin shop to Terminal 1 at Melbourne Airport. Open now, the one-stop gin shop offers a selection of Four Pillars gins, including core and limited releases. A select range of ‘Made from Gin’ products is also available to purchase, including Breakfast Negroni, […]

Dubai International Airport (DXB) today launched the region’s first mobile F&B and retail ordering service without the need to download an app. From today, all hungry passengers have to do is reach for their mobile to order food and drinks from DXB’s F&B outlets and have it delivered directly to them. And the ability to […]

Dufry has extended its duty-free concession at Cambodia’s three international airports in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville or five and a half years. The airports handled a total of 11.6 million international travellers in 2019, although these kind of figures are not expected to return for a while as COVID continues to restrict global […]

Perth Airport today reassured the travelling public that it continues to roll out new COVID-safe initiatives and practices through its car parks and terminals to keep passengers and workers safe. According to the airport’s chief commercial officer, Kate Holsgrove, the Australian gateway has “reimagined the traveller journey from carpark to forecourt, to terminal, to security, to […]

China Duty Free Group (CDFG) and The Design Solution today provided a sneak preview of their design scheme for the 4,000sqm airside commercial area at Chengdu’s new Tianfu International Airport (TFU). The airport is due to open in mid 2021, ready for the International University Sports Federation (FISU) Chengdu 2021 Summer World University Games in […]

The first Asia Pacific Travel Retail Association (APTRA) APAC Dialogue webinar on March 17, 2021, was a hotspot gathering for the industry with over 600 delegates joining from across the globe. APTRA executive director, Christina Oliver, comments. “APTRA’s ambition in this new series of webinars is to maintain inclusive dialogue, to share and learn from […]

GMR Kannur Duty Free Services Ltd today launched its first duty free outlet amid much fanfare and enthusiasm at the Kannur International Airport. Located at International Arrivals, the new outlet offers an assortment of some of the world’s most popular brands across liquor, perfume, confectionery, tobacco, travel essentials and authentic handpicked souvenirs. Rajesh Arora, CEO […]

Hyderabad-Rajiv Gandhi International Airport’s duty free operator, Hyderabad Duty Free (HDF), has launched a WhatsApp Virtual Assistant Chat-bot service that allows it communicate with passengers on international flights and answer any queries. Leveraging the massive global WhatsApp user base of over 2.7 billion users, the airport believes that the new Chat-bot service is a “convenient […]

The Design Solution is to work with the China Duty Free Group (CDFG) as the retail giant accelerates its growth in China and the extended region. It joins a select group of retail design agency partners that will work with CDFG on a range of projects to support it in bids for new space and […]

The Asia Pacific Travel Retail Association (APTRA) has launched a campaign to over 45 individual governments across the region with a proposal for regional alignment on quarantine rules and testing on arrival and departure at airports, in a move that would safeguard public health and promote industry recovery. Reflecting the views of many of its […]

Sunil Tuli, president of the Asia Pacific Travel Retail Association (APTRA) and group chief executive of King Power Group (Hong Kong) shares an industry perspective on the COVID-19 pandemic. As air travel virtually ground to a halt across Asia-Pacific in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, so too did an essential lifeline of over $36 […]

Lagardère Travel Retail Pacific has begun to re-open some of its stores across the region, starting with a handful of outlets in the domestic terminals at Auckland, Brisbane, Christchurch, Perth and Melbourne this week. According to the travel retailer, the small selection of stores will be used as test cases with restricted trading hours, with […]

The Asia Pacific Travel Retail Association (APTRA) is urging governments across the region to prioritise support packages for the travel retail industry to help many operators survive the coronavirus crisis. APTRA is writing to government policymakers responsible for determining Covid-19 fiscal relief and funding across ministerial offices including aviation, maritime, retail, F&B and tourism industries. […]

Heinemann Australia has celebrated five years at Sydney Airport by extending its Duty Free concession at the gateway until 2029. The news is a major coup for the company, which has operated Heinemann Tax & Duty Free store at the airport since 2015. “I’m delighted that we have attained this agreement extension, as it not only […]

Asia-Pacific Airports takes a closer look at plans to enhance the retail offering at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia. Passenger numbers are rising across the Middle East, and with forecasts predicting that this upward trajectory is set to continue in the long-term, many of the region’s airports are looking to expand their […]

What are the prerequisites to delivering exceptional customer experience along all touchpoints of the passenger journey? Redwater Consulting Group’s Kateryna Hess investigates. Customer experience (CX) has become a buzz word in today’s service industries from telecommunications, financial institutions and travel organisations to infrastructure providers. Consumers have become more connected and well informed about prices and […]

Abu Dhabi Airports CEO, Bryan Thompson, tells us a little more about the type of F&B innovation we can expect to find in Abu Dhabi International Airport’s new Midfield Terminal. The new Midfield Terminal at Abu Dhabi International Airport is the culmination of decades of innovation in aviation. Abu Dhabi Airports has invested heavily in ensuring that the […]

Joe Bates takes a closer look at the opening of some innovative new retail/F&B outlets across the region. SSP to be key F&B operator at Beijing Daxing SSP Group has secured three contracts to open six food and beverage units at the new Beijing Daxing International Airport. As the key food and beverage operator at […]

Pragma Consulting’s Alex Avery discusses how food and beverage is transforming airport retail. Whilst the challenges of delivering growth in retail are well documented, F&B continues to be the star performer for many airports. Pragma has seen annual growth in spend per passenger of up to 15% in some locations. In our opinion, there are […]

Pragma’s Alex Avery takes us through the impact of digitalisation on airport retail and what this potentially means for the future of shopping and dining at the world’s gateways. Technology has transformed our relationship with retail. From convenience, to single-click through to experiential retailing led by augmented reality. At the same time, consumers are demanding […]

Joe Bates rounds-up some of the latest retail/F&B news, views and reviews from across the busy Asia-Pacific region. Cairns Airport has awarded global restaurateur HMSHost and Australian hospitality powerhouse, Red Rock Australia, concessions to operate a total of 13 new food and beverage outlets when the expansion of Terminal 2 (T2) is completed in 2020. […]

Alex Avery looks at how innovation can shape the future of airport retail and enhance the passenger experience. Last year saw the top performing airports introduce pop-ups and experiential stores to encourage passengers to interact more with their retail offer. This has been supported by a big focus on making shopping as efficient and convenient […]

Airport retail and F&B innovation was top of the agenda at the recent Trinity Forum in Shanghai. Asia-Pacific Airports looks back at some of the highlights. ACI World’s last big event of the year, The Trinity Forum, attracted over 500 delegates to Shanghai to address the theme of ‘The changing airport and travel retail commercial eco-system’. […]

Asia-Pacific Airports discovers that confectionery remains an important product in airport duty free shops across the globe. A new study by the Tax Free World Association (TFWA) has highlighted the important role that confectionery plays in attracting customers to duty free and travel retail across all categories.  The report, which is part of the TFWA Category […]

What do airport retailers and F&B operators have to do to win over customers and convince them to return again and again? Clare Williams investigates. With duty free and travel retail sales set to top $100 billion by 2023, according to the latest data from Generation Research, it makes sense for airports to make the best of […]

A host of new contracts and record sales figures for 2014 make these exciting times for travel retail and duty free operators, writes Joe Bates. Duo to transform Auckland duty free offering Auckland Airport has announced that its duty free offering will be provided by LS travel retail Pacific and Aer Rianta International from July, […]

Are you making the most of your travel retail opportunities? Rosemary Chegwyn considers some of the retail dilemmas faced by Asia-Pacific’s gateways. An age old question is what do people do to pass the time while waiting at the airport to board their flight?  The answer depends on many different things, of course, perhaps most […]