Earlier this evening, the extended, no-frills terminal mp² at Marseille-Provence Airport (MRS) – costing €6m ($7.5m) was officially inaugurated bringing new retail and F&B facilities to passengers covering 1,110sq m of space, up by +30%.

 

Central to the retail offer is the spacious 400sq m next-generation Aelia Duty Free store – the first of a new design “that will be the base of all our future developments internationally” Aelia CEO (below), Ambroise Fondeur tells TRBusiness.

 

Aelia is part of Lagardère Services-owned LS Travel Retail and its new concept is based on four strategic pillars: Facilitation, Care, Here & Nowhere Else, and The Art of the Gift, with the latter also being used as a sub-logo to the new Aelia branding (below).

 

Commenting on the notion behind the four pillars, Fondeur says: “It is based on travellers’, landlords’ and brands’ expectations. The general idea is to create a memorable duty free experience”. [For a separate exclusive interview with Ambroise Fondeur about the next-generation Aelia store concept click here.]

 

As well as the main 400sq m DF&TR store, the new mp² units consist of a Relay shop twinned with an Air de Provence concept (below) that showcases the best of the region’s products as well as a new restaurant from the Autogrill portfolio called La Tapenade (serving Mediterranean cuisine) which complements Class’croute also from the Italian operator.

 

Officials in attendance at the launch event were Jean-Paul Ourliac, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Marseille Provence Airport; Pierre Régis, Chairman of the Executive Board; Michel Perol, General Manager of Lagardère Services Travel Retail France; and Stan Monheim, Chief Sales and Operations Officer, F&B North West Europe at Autogrill.

 

MP² RAMPS UP TRAFFIC

In 2006, MRS [also called AMP] was a pioneer in establishing Europe’s first ‘no frills’ airport terminal with a pricing structure designed to appeal to low-cost airlines and enabling more people, in the Provence region especially, to access cheap air travel.

 

Eight year later, mp² (pictured below in the centre of the image) boasts flights to over 40 destinations and handles almost 2m passengers annually on five core carriers: Ryanair, easyJet, Pegasus Airlines, Jetairfly, and Air Méditerranée.

 

In 2013, more than one in four travellers at MRS went through mp² with traffic up by +6.4% on 2012, which compares with a slight traffic downturn for the airport as a whole of -0.4% to 8.3m passengers.

 

“To cater for these increasing levels of activity we have reorganised waiting areas and border control points, placing them on one level for a smoother and more comfortable experience,” explains Régis.

 

“We have also worked with our partners Lagardère Services Travel Retail France [Aelia Duty Free, Relay] and Autogrill [Class’croute, La Tapenade] to provide travellers with 1,100sq m of modern and diversified services,” he says.

 

‘CLOSE RELATIONSHIP’

Perol adds: “LS Travel Retail France selected Marseille for the launch of its pilot Aelia Duty Free, Next Generation store (to reflect) the very close working relationship established between Marseille Provence Airport and LS Travel Retail France since 2006. What’s more, the strategy at mp², driven by innovation and digital technology, is perfectly in line with LS Travel Retail France’s vocation to reinvent the duty free experience.”

 

The extension work at mp2 commenced in November 2013 and required an investment of €6m.