THAILAND. Airport International Group (AIG) is to launch a tender for the operation of food & beverage outlets at Amman Queen Alia International Airport. 
The announcement was revealed by AIG Chief Commercial Officer Deema Anani during a conference session at the 2023 Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) + Hospitality Conference and Awards in Bangkok.
The tender is set to be launched in October this year.
As reported, Anani originally announced the tender during the FAB Conference & Awards in 2018 in Helsinki. The concession was awarded to BTA Catering and Lagardère Travel Retail in 2019. However, the airport company was forced to cancel the opportunity due to the pandemic.
The airport is seeking a master concessionaire to occupy a 1,600 sq m space in departures and 600 sq m in the arrivals area under an eight-year term. The contract also covers the development of the terrace area.
In preparation for the tender, the airport has tested several concepts in short-term contracts including a local bakery, falafel shop, healthy concepts, donut store, gelato and cakes, and local sweets. Anani noted a +31% increase in SPP in 2022 and stop ratio went up by +23% as a result of these trails.
In addition, the airport has introduced a short-term food festival featuring local vendors to test the arrivals business which delivered “impressive results”. F&B revenues also increased by +3% during the three-month food festival.
Anani said: “All the concepts that we tried have given us a lot of insights into what people want and local keeps emerging as a key strong point. Experience is also something we’ve done – a lot of activations, which have been received very well. So in the tender, we will talk about each of the concepts.”
With a vision already set out, Anani said AIG wants to work with a partner to help them achieve it, in what she describes as “the truest meaning of partnership”. She added: “We want a partner that is able to innovate at every step of the process.”
Anani also emphasised the importance of innovation and Sense of Place for this new project. “If you do not understand the place [Jordan], you cannot develop a Sense of Place. The Sense of Place definition is elastic, what it means to the local community is what really matters.”
For the design of the space, the airport company said it would entrust it to the successful bidder and base it on their vision expertise and experience.
Amman Queen Alia International is the main gateway to Jordan and is described as a premier regional centre for leisure, business and medical travel.
The airport has already served more than 74 domestic and global destinations (YTD July 2023). Passenger volume has now exceeded pre-COVID 2019 levels, reaching 5.4 million, +5.3% higher than 2019 numbers, and representing a +28.2 year-on-year growth.
The airport company claims to be the only one in the world that has a medical lab in its commercial area offering specialised services like DNA genealogy and fitness tests, and focuses on wellness and wellbeing, food intolerances and more. ✈
