SWEDEN. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is to partner Stockholm Arlanda Airport in running the retail operation in the latter’s new airport extension.
Pieter Verboom, Schiphol Group’s chief financial officer, and Lars Rekke, director general of Luftfartsverket (the Swedish Civil Aviation Authority and owner of Stockholm airport) this week signed an agreement announcing the partnership.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol will assist the Swedish airport in further developing retail, food and accommodation facilities over the next 15 years. Consumer International – Amsterdam Airport Schiphol’s international retail division – will focus mainly on concept development, product and pricing policy as well as marketing and promotions in the coming period.
Schiphol Group’s chief finance officer Pieter Verboom said: “We are delighted with the partnership and Luftfartsverket’s confidence in our company. We have won worldwide acclaim for our passenger facility and service innovations. The contract affirms that our AirportCity activities have marketing appeal abroad. We shall undertake every effort to ensure that Arlanda’s international passengers are offered a memorable stay”.
The partnership agreement sees a joint venture created to jointly manage the retail facilities in the North terminal at Arlanda airport. The North terminal extension has gained an area called the new Central terminal, which will be inaugurated by Sweden’s Transport Minister Ulrica Messing on 17 December 2003, the day on which 100 Years of Flight will be celebrated worldwide.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Arlanda will jointly manage the retail and food outlets as well as all accommodation facilities in the North terminal. The piers there house numerous shopping and food outlets, banks and a business/communications centre. A further ten shops, four food outlets and one currency exchange service point will be housed in the new Central terminal. Uniquely for Arlanda Airport, the new Central terminal will contain retail and food outlets conveniently clustered together in a single area, which passengers can reach easily.
Arlanda Airport will have a 60% share in the joint venture and Schiphol Group a 40% share. Almost all international passengers depart from Arlanda Airport’s North terminal. SAS and its alliance partners as well as most major European airlines are situated in the North terminal. Some nine million passengers travelled through the terminal in 2002. Ten daily flight services operate between Arlanda and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, five of which are operated by SAS and five by KLM.
The duty free stores at Stockholm are run by The Nuance Group.
Background: Arlanda airport welcomed 16.4 million passengers in 2002. Some six million were domestic passengers and ten million international passengers.
In total, 65 airlines operate flight services to and from Stockholm Arlanda Airport. Home carrier SAS is the airport’s major airline, transporting around 55% of all passengers to and from Stockholm-Arlanda Airport together with its Star Alliance partners. Other major airlines are Finnair, Skyways, British Airways, Air France and KLM. Ten daily flight services operate between Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Arlanda, five operated by SAS and five by KLM, representing around half a million passengers annually.
Stockholm Arlanda Airport has invested around US$1.1 billion in capacity and quality for the future. Construction projects include the new Pier F, which opened in 2002, a new air traffic control tower, and a new runway, both of which began operating in 2003.
The new Central terminal, an extension of terminal 5 (now also referred to as terminal North) will open on 17 December 2003. A further US$150 million has been earmarked for investment in the coming years in a new cargo area, called Cargo City.
Stockholm Arlanda Airport consists of four interconnected passenger terminals. A landside shopping centre called SkyCity connects the South terminal (terminals 2, 3 and 4) and the North terminal (terminal 5, to Piers A, B and F).
The North terminal, which serves 8.8 million passengers, handles mainly international flights with 90% of all international passengers departing from here.
