SWITZERLAND. Zürich Airport retail and dining turnover climbed by +12.5% year-on-year in the first ten months of 2021, to CHF230.1 million (US$251 million), with airside sales up by +12.3% and landside sales up by +12.7%.
In the year to date the airport has served 8 million passengers, up by +4.1% year-on-year. In a trading update, Zürich Airport said it is now forecasting around 10 million passengers in 2021, representing around one-third of 2019 volumes.
Airside spend per departing passenger climbed by +10.5% in the January-October period to CHF24.90 (US$27.13).
In October alone, commercial turnover reached CHF36.6 million (US$39.9 million), a leap of +121.9% on the low levels of a year earlier. Airside spend in October fell by -7.4% year-on-year to CHF23.80 (US$25.93).
Passenger traffic in October hit 1.61 million, up +244.4% compared to the previous year.
Commenting further, the airport company said it was confident it would “find solutions regarding the Minimum Annual Guarantees (MAG) with all tenants for the present year”. It added: “Due to additional income from The Circle, revenue from real estate is set to grow in 2021. As a result of a high share of domestic travellers at the airports owned in Latin America, revenues from the international business are recovering faster compared to the Zürich site.”
The company repeated its statement that around 50% of 2019 traffic volumes are needed to return to break-even in terms of net profit and free cash flow. Q3 2021 showed a positive net profit and positive free cash flow. For the full year 2021, a small loss is expected.
