International news, books and convenience operator WHSmith, which was recently awarded a contract at Singapore Changi Airport across all its terminals, says it has further expanded its presence in Southeast Asia by opening its first stores in the Philippines. It has also extended its footprint in Indonesia and Malaysia.

 

In Indonesia, WHSmith has secured a contract for three stores at Jakarta Terminal 3, which will be operated by its local franchisee, KPU; a subsidiary of the Indonesian Listed company PT Sona Topas.

 

After opening the first Terminal 3 store two further stores will be opened when the terminal construction is completed in the coming months. Covering over 400,000sq m, Terminal 3 is one of the largest in South East Asia.

 

When fully operational it will process 25m passengers annually. Alongside the store in Jakarta’s Terminal 2, KPU operates eight WHSmith stores in Bali Airport and one downtown store.

 

In the Philippines, WHSmith has recently opened the second of its stores at Manila Ninoy Aquino International airport, following the opening of its first Philippine store at Cebu Mactan International Airport.

 

PARTNERING WITH REGENT TRAVEL RETAIL

Manila is the largest airport in the Philippines, with over 36m passengers using the airport annually. With 8m passengers forecast in 2016, Cebu is the second largest airport in the Philippines.

 

Regent Travel Retail is currently working under a franchise agreement with WHSmith and has created a management team to ensure the smooth running of the stores.

 

Joey Esteban, General Manager of Regent Travel Retail, said: “Regent is pleased to be opening its first WHSmith stores in Cebu and Manila in partnership with WHSmith. It is an important milestone in our development of the brand in the Philippines.”

 

 

In Malaysia, WHSmith has opened a WHSmith Express format store in Kuala Lumpur’s Terminal 1 Satellite building. There are now nine WHSmith stores in four Malaysia airports, under a joint venture with Bison consolidated.

 

WHSmith has a presence in 50 airports worldwide including London Heathrow, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Delhi, Shanghai, Sydney and Melbourne.