Aer Rianta International CEO Jack MacGowan says ARI’s average passenger spend across all airports is growing 50% faster than passenger growth.

 

“Our average passenger spend is growing 50% faster than our passengers, so our passenger growth over all our airports – some of them in recession, some not – is 4%. Our sales are growing at 6%, that’s 50% more,” he said.

 

“So it’s really a combination of being nimble and having GMs that can act and do things and they’re great GMs in general,” he added, referring the ARI’s General Managers around the world.

 

“You heard me at the Trinity Forum. Two out of three passengers don’t shop. Our lunch could be twice as big as the one we’re currently eating and we could be much, much better. So there’s just an enormous opportunity to grow sales per passenger.”

 

GETTING PRIORITIES RIGHT…..

MacGowan (left) added that ARI believes it is more important to do a good job in the locations it currently has, than to grow new locations on every continent, even though ARI still has plenty of active ambition in this area.

 

He said: “That’s our primary job – to satisfy as many passengers as possible and that goes through every part of our organization. So when we’re looking at the inside team, the buying team, it’s all geared around how do we sell more per passenger.

 

“Selective and cautious growth in markets is absolutely a second pillar of our strategy, but it’s not grow at all costs and it is absolutely not overbidding so that I have to renegotiate and then end up in legal wranglings with airports.

 

“The last thing we want to do is overbid and have an unsustainable rent level. We’re very happy and flexible to offer airports more upside, but we want airports that are partners in that share”.

 

Having said this, MacGowan said the company is still looking at several new bid opportunities and will be involved in the Abu Dhabi Airport bid process when it materialises next month also the Houston Airport duty free contract, amongst others.

 

[An in-depth one-to-one interview with Jack MacGowan conducted in Dublin earlier this month can be found in ‘The World’s Top 10 Operators 2013’ report, accompanying the October 2014 issue of The Travel Retail Business].