Abu Dhabi Airports Company Chief Commercial Officer Dan Cappell says the airport is about to make major changes to its retail offering within Terminal 1, in response to a changing passenger mix.

 

He told TRBusiness recently: “We are about to embark upon some major changes within Terminal 1 to accommodate more seating and to mix the luxury offer with High Street products in order to reflect the change in the demographic profile of passengers travelling through the terminal.”

 

BIG +10% SALES INCREASE IN 2015

This follows record-breaking passenger figures at the end of 2015 with passenger traffic continuing to increase, reaching 11m passengers between January and June – a 6.6% increase on figures from the first half of 2015, according to Cappell.

 

However, when asked about traffic numbers versus DF&TR spending, Cappell said: “We continue to see traffic growth year on year, driven by Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the UAE. For the first time in many years our revenue growth is not in line with our passenger growth.”

 

He added: “There are many contributing factors to this, including the Chinese austerity drive, general economic environment, and exchange rate fluctuations.”

 

 

OVER 8 YEARS DFS HAS PERFORMED STRONGLY

DFS Group has operated the retail management contract on behalf of Abu Dhabi Duty Free at the airport since 2008 and is widely credited with upgrading it beyond recognition during this eight-year period over two concurrent contracts. [Last year, ADDF’s sales hit a new record high to reach Dhms1.5bn ($408.4m) – a rise of +10.3% on 2014-Ed].

 

DFS’ contract expires at the end of 2017 when Aer Rianta International and Lagardère Travel Retail are both due to take over running their respective new contracts at the new Dhms10.8bn ($2.94bn) 700,000sq m Midfield Terminal Complex (MTC). This is scheduled to open in December of next year.