Passenger growth is underpinning much of the sales performance at Brisbane International Airport.

Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) has revealed the duty free business at the airport is ‘performing quite well’ following a strong Chinese New Year Period.

The incumbent duty free operator at the airport, which opened its A$45m ($33m) International Terminal redevelopment in 2015, is JR/Duty Free. The retailer has a contract there until 2021.

Last year, Brisbane Airport handled 23,205,702 PAX (compared to 22,689,496 the year before) of which 5,803,549 were international passengers. In January and February 2018, international PAX numbers reached 547,399 and 436,039 respectively.

Toby Innes, former Brisbane Airport Corporation, Head of Retail and current International Terminal, Asset Manager told TRBusiness: “Sales are looking good.

PASSENGER GROWTH

“Passenger growth is underpinning a lot of the sales performance and not just duty free. Speciality retail and food and beverage are also performing extremely strongly.”

He added: “In terms of the international business, it is about constant evolution and considering how we can improve the customer experience in partnership with existing retailers. It is broader than just the duty free operation.

“It is about looking at the whole terminal to keep evolving so people obtain new experiences each time they pass through.”

Regarding the duty free offer, Innes said: “We are evolving the [JR/Duty Free] outlet. In recent months, we have opened an alternative few sections to enhance sales increases across the perfumes and cosmetics range. We have introduced various new brands including Jo Malone, Bottega and Gucci.”

The main focus this year for BAC is the $40m redevelopment of its domestic terminal. This  month, BAC invited proposals for new premium fashion, gifts and accessories retail units. This followed an RFP for technology and premium quality books or souvenir retailers issued in February.

Innes (left) commented: “There will be a complete change of the retail through the domestic terminal over the next two to three years.”

The airport opened its A$45m International Terminal Redevelopment in 2015.

Meanwhile, BAC is also working on a ‘terminal expansion re-jig’ in the main terminal, which is expected to take two to three years. He explained: “We are just at the conceptual stage and the dates and timeframes will be driven by the outcome of the planning process effectively.

“The whole process will involve more duty free, speciality retail and food and beverage space.”

In terms of 2018, ‘the signs are positive,’ emphasises Innes, who remarked: “There is no doubt we have seen strong sales performance across all our sectors. We are excited for the year to come. There is positive passenger growth and strong growth in our Chinese market.”

Its partnership at the start of the year with local start-up TravelbyBit, has helped enhance the passenger experience. This enables passengers to use cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Dash and Ethereum to pay for goods and services at the airport’s stores and F&B outlets.

Innes concluded: “This was an exciting initiative and we are still rolling it out and going through the training phase, which TravebyBit is mostly taking care of.”

Brisbane Airport incumbent duty free operator JR/Duty Free has a contract until 2021.