In what it describes as ‘a collaborative trinity partnership’, Finavia Corporation has teamed up with Bulgari and Dufry at Helsinki Airport to present the Italian fashion brand’s first pop-up store within an airport location.

The new pop-up operated by Dufry is located in the non-Schengen-area consists of jewellery, watches and accessories, with Elena Stenholm, Finavia’s Commercial Director and Vice President pointing with pride to the new offering.

HELSINKI IS ‘PROUD’ TO FEATURE BULGARI

She said: “We are proud to have the magnificent and contemporary Italian jeweller and the master of coloured gemstones, Bulgari at Helsinki Airport. Helsinki Airport is the leading Northern European airport for long-haul traffic and an important transfer hub in the whole of Europe.

“We focus heavily on the Asian market and hence, we have invested significantly in services especially for Chinese. We want to offer our quickly growing Asian and international clientele a smooth journey and a high-class passenger experience all under one terminal roof.”

Airport management says that the new offering will be in place for ‘for at least one year’, while it also provides ‘an excellent opportunity for the brand to be showcased’, while adding ‘variety and uniqueness’ to the shopping experience at Helsinki, according to Roberto Marino, Travel Retail Europe Director of Sales and Marketing at Bulgari.

Left to right: Roberto Marino, Travel Retail Europe Director of Sales and Marketing at Bulgari, Elena Stenholm, Finavia’s Commercial Director and Vice President and Karl Walter, Managing Director at Dufry for Finland & Sweden,

FEELING THE ‘DOLCE VITA…’

He said: “The design as well as our different collections are invitations for our customers to travel to the eternal city, feel the dolce vita and discover more than 2,700 years of Roman heritage that inspires Bulgari.”

Commenting on the ‘strong relationship’ that Dufry has with Finavia, Karl Walter, Managing Director at Dufry for Finland & Sweden said: “With our decades of experience in the travel retail sector, we know that it’s important for customers at airports to be able to purchase premium products that represent the ultimate in terms of quality, as is the case here with Bulgari at the Helsinki Airport”.

As reported extensively by TRBusiness, Helsinki Airport is currently in the midst of an extensive €900m ($1m) project to expanded the terminal by 103,000sq m, while doubling the number of bridge gates for wide-body aircraft from 8 to 16.

Airport management says that the aim is to strengthen Helsinki Airport’s competitive position even further as it prepares to handle around 30m passengers in the future, while preserving its short transit times.