Sales and rental ‘income’ from duty free sales at all Norwegian airports in the first six months of 2015 rose from NK1.137.8m in 2014 to NK1.142.3m ($137.0m to $137.6m) between January and the end of June 2015.

 

The state-owned airport group’s income and profit across the Avinor Group also increased slightly against the corresponding period last year, with operating income edging up to NK5.117m ($618.8m) compared with NK5.101m ($617.1m) in the same six-month period in 2014.

 

Avinor also reported a six-month profit after tax of NK566m ($68.4m) this year against NK523m ($63.2m) for the same period in 2014, with the increase this year said to be due to reduced project expenses and lower net financial outgoings.

 

As reported before, Oslo Gardermoen Airport makes a huge contribution to these results, with its retail partner Travel Retail Norway (Gebr. Heinemann) now operating the biggest and most successful ‘duty free’ operation in mainland Europe, generating €420m ($455m) in arrivals and departures sales in calendar year 2014.

 

 

Commenting on the latest overall results, Avinor CEO Dag Falk-Petersen said: “With limited growth, it is important for Avinor to operate efficiently. We are working towards clear goals in order to reduce the company’s costs by way of an ambitious modernisation programme.

 

“We are targeting cost savings of NK1.5bn ($250m) in the period from 2015 to 2018. Additionally, we are focusing on streamlining operations through the use of new technology and efficient operating concepts, including remote-operated towers. Our objective is to strengthen Avinor’s competitiveness and ensure that we provide effective aviation services nationwide – now and in the future.”

 

These ‘effective services’ also include Europe’s biggest duty free airport operation at Oslo Gardermoen, where Espen Ettre, Oslo Airport’s Director Property and Commercial Development tells TRBusiness that congestion remains a big problem in the shops, trading from just 8,000sq m of floor space.

 

However, this situation is expected to improve hugely when the new pier opens in April 2017 raising capacity to 28m passengers a year.

 

 

As reported earlier, Avinor is doubling the size of Europe’s most successful duty free arrivals shop to 4,000sq m and introducing two new departure stores of 2,000sq m each, after extending Travel Retail Norway and Gebr. Heinemann’s contract for all Norway’s international airports by a further five years to 2022. [The first shop is expected to open in the last quarter of next year. See links below for full details-Ed].

 

Meanwhile, passenger numbers across Avinor’s airports in HY1 fell by -1.3% in the first half to 24.1m [due mainly to reduced domestic and off shore helicopter traffic-Ed]. However, numbers grew marginally at Oslo Gardermoen Airport by 0.7%.

 

Total international passenger numbers rose by 0.5% across all of Avinor’s airports, while domestic numbers dropped -2.2%.

 

 

Avinor senior management added that the huge expansion and development project at Oslo Airport remains ‘essentially on schedule and is 78% complete at the end of the second quarter’.

 

It adds that the airport is maintaining ‘high rates of traffic growth, regularity, and punctuality’, despite many challenges – including major congestion issues within the duty free shops.

 

As part of its efforts to get passengers airside as quickly as possible, Oslo Airport is also trialling particle detector Explosives Trace Detector (ETD) technology to replace time consuming random hand searches of passengers. Airport management says these are faster and a ‘better experience’ for passengers.

 

Last, but not least, there is also a solid plan to merge both Avinor AS and Oslo Lufthavn AS on 1 January 2016.

 

[For more information on the biggest passenger infrastructure and duty free expansion plan in Oslo Gardermoen Airport’s history, click here: http://www.trbusiness.com/regional-news/international/oslo-plans-new-455m-plus-duty-free-airport/78100]

 

[For a more detailed report on Oslo Gardermoen Airport’s 12m passenger breakdown in the first half of 2015, click here: http://www.trbusiness.com/regional-news/europe/oslo-gardermoen-hits-12m-pax-in-first-half/78091]