Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) Chief Commercial Officer Arthur Reijnhart has been frank on the scale of the challenge that lies ahead in ramping-up the passenger experience at the European hub airport [click below video for more].

As reported, Lagardère Travel Retail unveiled its flagship 1,500sq m duty free store under the new retail fascia ‘Today Duty Free’ earlier this month.

Category zoning, relevant ranging, competitive pricing and services such as a tasting bar, self-checkouts and personal beauty advisors characterise the face-lifted duty free shopping concept, according to the Paris-headquartered travel retailer.

The new shop aligns with the airport operator’s plan to overhaul the commercial areas across the departure lounges to uplift the travel experience, with duty free shops covering a combined area of 5,500sq m in line for renovations in the coming months, accounting for around 20% of the total retail area.

Reijnhart and Lucio Rossetto, Regional Chief Operating Officer Europe, Lagardère Travel Retail revealed more about the joint venture partnership between Lagardère Travel Retail and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and the ambitious duty free shopping project for the first time publicly during last month’s TR Consumer Forum in Amsterdam (2-4 June).

See below for soundbite videos from Reijnhart and Rossetto.

Pursuit of growth ‘at a cost’

“It is fresh, of huge importance to Schiphol and Lagardère to transform the passenger experience in all our duty free stores,” said Reijnhart, speaking to TRBusiness on the sidelines of the duty free and travel retail industry’s only consumer-centric conference and networking event.

“Our challenge is to drastically improve the quality of the pax experience. In the years ahead, we will be transforming the airport and investing very heavily.”

Schiphol’s pursuit of growth over the decades – today it welcomes more than 70 million passengers – through a low-cost model has proven successful in capturing traffic, but the neglect of critical service infrastructure and maintenance has meant waning passenger satisfaction and retail spending levels.

AMS committed in 2024 to spending €6 billion over the next five years to modernise, renovate and future-proof the airport physically, operationally, and commercially, across areas including the overhaul and expansion of Lounge 1 (Schengen) and transformation of Pier C.

The largest capital investment in the airport’s history includes renewal of the airport’s shops, duty free outlets and restaurants, with the airport turning its attention to Lounge 2 and Lounge 3 in 2026 and 2027, respectively.

For its part, joint venture partner Lagardère Travel Retail will play a major role in executing the new Schiphol experience for travelling shoppers under a contract that commenced on 1 May.

Arthur Reijnhart, Chief Commercial Officer, Royal Schiphol Group.

“That investment comes at a cost; there will be from time to time construction sites,” said Reijnhart. “At the end, this will lead to a better airport, but especially in these busy times we are looking together at ways to entice the passenger to come into our stores and have a great experience.

“As an airport, we sit on a huge pile of valuable data and understanding of how passengers flow, what their preferences are, when they shop and how they shop.”

Lucio Rossetto, Regional Chief Operating Officer Europe, Lagardère Travel Retail.

Rossetto added: “Travel retail has a big challenge – there are so many different types of passengers and needs. We can analyse needs, but different personas need to find their own shopping experience and this multiple shopping experience is difficult to achieve in a limited space but we can work and improve this dimension.”

READ MORE: Louis Vuitton store opens doors at Schiphol Airport in Lounge 2

READ MORE: Schiphol raises the bar on retail and F&B amid significant infrastructure renewal

READ MORE: Forum 2025 – Lagardère TR & Schiphol keynote

READ MORE: Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in transformation mode

READ MORE: TR Consumer Forum 2025 highlights reel

READ MORE: TR Consumer Forum 2025 photo gallery

READ MORE: Rituals cuts ribbon on first Mind Oasis concept store at AMS