In the nine months to September, Aéroports de Paris, the operator of Paris Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, saw its Retail & Services division contract slightly by -0.4% to €705m ($876m) – but retail revenue held up, generating growth of +3.2% to €291m ($362m).

 

The retail growth (see bottom figure) was ahead of the passenger increase of +2.4% at both the Paris airports and produced an increase in sales per passenger of +1.9% to €17.50 (airside). However as the bar chart (below left, click to enlarge) shows, in the same period in 2013 sales per pax rose by +6.7% while in previous years growth rates have been at least +5%.

 

ADP says that the Air France pilot’s strike in September has a negative €4m impact on retail revenue.

 

ADP rightly says that it has seen a “constant and sustained growth in sales/pax since 2006” but with the tapering growth trend – even taking the strike impact into account – it could be that the operator will not meet its guidance of €19/pax by the end of 2015.

 

The operator has a recovery during the summer thanks to a marketing action plan launched in July, and it hopes that a new luxury area in Terminal 2E, opened in October and featuring Hermès, Dior, Cartier and Chanel, will help drive duty free sales.

 

On the duty paid side a new offering at 2F and an improvement of 2D as well as the diversification of Relay into snack foods and souvenirs helped push up sales in this segment by +7.1%.