State-owned Shanghai Airport Authority (SAA) is inviting solicitations of interest in retail and F&B concessions at Pudong International Airport’s (PVG) new Satellite Hall ahead of a duty paid tender, TRBusiness can reveal.

The 620,000sq m Satellite Hall, which is slated to complete its construction in the second half of 2019, will offer a commercial area spanning roughly 28,000sq m.

Opportunities are understood to cover 19 duty and tax paid retail concessions, with official documents due to be released in early September, according to a well-placed source.

“Probably the tender opening date will be the first working day after the long holiday in China [Mid-Autumn Festival] which is the first week of October,” they said.

Shanghai Airport was unavailable for comment when approached by TRBusiness.

Space dedicated to the commercial area totals 19,000sq m, including 5,000sq m for international retail, 4,900 for domestic retail and 9,200 for F&B.

This will be distributed across a mixed floor of domestic departures and arrivals, international departures and an international mezzanine area.

‘SHANGHAI SHOPPING’ AREA

The Satellite Hall’s commercial spread will be themed around four brands: ‘Shanghai service, ‘Shanghai manufacturing’, ‘Shanghai shopping’ and ‘Shanghai culture’.

A dynamic retail offer is set to hone in on internationally renowned brands and Chinese – including Shanghai – culture.

Shanghai Airport stated: “It is hoped that the hall will improve the airport’s commercial reputation and set the benchmark for the domestic airport industry by relying on the advantages of passenger flow resources, catering to the needs of the diversified business on site and possessing high-quality brands and exceptional customer service.”

Upon completion, the Satellite Terminal is set to handle an initial 38m pax annually, which will raise raising PVG’s capacity to 80m.

Two connected S1 and S2 halls will link the existing two terminals via a mass transit system.

According to the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, an underground subway will begin operation in 2019 with a west line linking T1 with S1 and an east line connecting T2 and S2.

S1 will serve China Eastern, Shanghai Airlines and other SkyTeam carriers, while the opposite part of the building will handle Air China, China Southern and other Star Alliance members. 

ORIENT KING POWER ‘WILL BID’

The news is set to attract a tranche of leading travel retailers, particularly King Power (HK) Group subsidiary Orient King Power, which secured a five-year duty paid tender at the airport’s Terminal 2 covering 2,203sq m and 26 shops last year.

It also runs duty paid concessions at Terminal 1, where it has embarked on a systematic transformation of its operations over the past three years, and has confirmed to TRBusiness it will be bidding on the Satellite concessions.

News of the commercial opportunities will come as no surprise; the expiry of the duty free contracts at Shanghai Pudong and Hongqiao Airports earlier this year precipitated a tender won by CDFG subsidiary Sunrise Duty Free, with attention turning to a likely duty paid tender at the new Satellite.

Additional reporting by Andrew Pentol

TRBusiness aims to bring you further updates on this developing story…