lux-Airport last week announced the result of the retail and food & beverage tenders launched in December of last year, unveiling the companies that will partner with Luxembourg Airport to deliver what the operator has said will “constitute a downright innovative and unique experience for the passengers”.
From 1 November, Lagardère Services will operate the airport’s retail and duty free activities, while SSP, in partnership with Oberweis, will manage food & beverage operations, and Valora Luxembourg will oversee the sales of news, books and tobacconist items, for the next 10 years.
Luxembourg Airport has experienced significant growth in its passenger numbers in recent years, welcoming close to 2.5 million passengers in 2014 – an increase of 12.3% compared with 2013. Passenger traffic is estimated to rise a further 8% this year, approaching a provisional total of 2.7 million passengers, and the airport’s renewed shopping and catering offer is designed to appear to this growing number of international travellers, as well as a local clientele.
Luxembourg Airport’s new 849sqm retail and duty free area will be distinguished by the opening of Aelia Duty Free ‘next generation’ stores – an innovative concept by Lagardère Services based on four strategic pillars – The Art of the Gift; Facilitation; Care; and Here and Nowhere Else. Lagardère Services will invest more than €2 million in the delivery of its carefully curated offer, which revolves around a commitment to high quality and modernity, with shops dedicated to providing the world’s best international and regional products.
“Today, we are taking a major step forward in the development of the airport; we are looking forward to cooperating with such recognised operators, who will invest millions of euros and will bring all their expertise to bear in the service of our airport,” Johan Vanneste, General Manager of lux-Airport, enthused. “The final result will bring about a profound transformation of the airport, and constitute a downright innovative and unique experience for the passengers.”
“We would like to thank lux-Airport warmly for its trust and confidence in us for the management of the airport’s duty free shops,” Michel Pérol, Chief Executive Officer, LS travel retail France – the dedicated French arm of Lagardère Services, stated. “We shall make a point of offering passengers a unique customer experience by capitalising on our 160 years of experience in travel retail. Our objective is to develop the offer of local products and to ensure a smooth transition in the airport’s commercial landscape.”
A number of SSP’s new restaurant concepts, meanwhile, will be operated in partnership with Luxembourgish retailer Oberweis. The Oberweis Brasserie Comptoir du Bon Pays, an Oberweis branded restaurant and a branded Oberweis shop and café will all enhance the appetising food & beverage offer available to passengers at Luxembourg Airport.
The implementation of these newly announced leases will constitute the first real physical transformation inside the terminal since it opened in 2008. It will see the appearance, as well as the perception of the terminal infrastructure, change, while a number of shops will be relocated, and entire areas of the terminal will be redesigned completely.
“We have positioned our catering offer with innovation and quality in mind, and we are proud to be participating in this renovation project alongside lux-Airport; we both share a goal of excellence and providing an ever-better travel experience,” Gérard d’Onofrio, Managing Director, SSP France, Belgium, Netherlands, stated.
The renovation works will also see the introduction of the Lux Brewery bar, the Moselier restaurant, a smaller Moselier ‘grab and go’ outlet, a Starbucks and a Panopolis outlet. In total, the food & beverage area operated by SSP will cover 1,110sqm.
Gérard d’Onofrio, Managing Director, SSP France, Belgium, Netherlands: “We have positioned our catering offer with innovation and quality in mind, and we are proud to be participating in this renovation project alongside lux-Airport; we both share a goal of excellence and providing an ever-better travel experience.”
Finally, the news, bookshop and tobacconist points of sale, operated by Valora Luxembourg, will be laid across a total 124sqm. They will benefit from the innovative new concept Press & Books, which was first tested in Zurich, and is characterised by its warm ambiance, the use of ecological materials in its design, and rapid customer orientation. Press & Books will be open-fronted, embracing the terminal with the aim of highlighting the offer on hand.
“The new management has apprised us of its determination for change, and has shown dynamism and ambition that are perfectly in line with Valora’s strategy. This partnership commits us to meeting a demanding professional, leisure and ever larger clientele,” Myriam Filali, General Manager, Valora Luxembourg, said.
“We are delighted to continue our cooperation with lux-Airport and proud to be joining an innovative concept in this changing environment,” commented Myriam Filali, General Manager, Valora Luxembourg. “The new management has apprised us of its determination for change, and has shown dynamism and ambition that are perfectly in line with Valora’s strategy. This partnership commits us to meeting a demanding professional, leisure and ever larger clientele.”
The implementation of these new leases will constitute the first real physical transformation inside the terminal since it opened in 2008. It will see the appearance, as well as the perception of the terminal infrastructure, change, while a number of shops will be relocated, and entire areas of the terminal will be redesigned completely.
Michel Pérol, Chief Executive Officer, LS travel retail France: “We shall make a point of offering passengers a unique customer experience by capitalising on our 160 years of experience in travel retail. Our objective is to develop the offer of local products and to ensure a smooth transition in the airport’s commercial landscape.”
lux-Airport explained that it was pursuing two equally important objectives in its commercial tender – to bring the retail and food & beverage offers at Luxembourg Airport’s terminal up to the highest standards of the industry, and to obtain profitability guarantees for the long term, in order to consolidate its own economic model. Bids were assessed according to financial and non-financial criteria, such as concept, type of shops and their integration in the airport environment.
The innovative, major renovation of Luxembourg Airport’s commercial facilities will be carried out chiefly during the winter season, with the project due to be completed in Spring 2016. Key aspects of the terminal’s transformation will include:
- A sizeable extension of the catering areas
- A reconfiguration of the mezzanine to better showcase the restaurant
- The opening of a food & beverage point of sale in non-Schengen boarding area
- A better location for the bar at Arrivals
- A walkthrough duty free facility to enlarge the point of sale and optimise the space in the boarding area
- A geographic regrouping of points of sale at airside to create a “market square”
“Today, we are taking a major step forward in the development of the airport; we are looking forward to cooperating with such recognised operators, who will invest millions of euros and will bring all their expertise to bear in the service of our airport,” said Johan Vanneste, General Manager of lux-Airport. “The final result will bring about a profound transformation of the airport, and constitute a downright innovative and unique experience for the passengers.”
