ITALY. Autogrill has renewed its concession for eight points of sale in Terminals One and Two at Malpensa International Airport. This is in addition to three new locations it secured in 2005. The renewed contract is for seven years from November 2006.
Awarded by the airport operator SEA Aeroporti di Milano, the contract will generate accumulated sales of around €77 million, said Autogrill.
Autogrill’s locations are all in the Departures area, covering over 2,300sq m and seating around 800.
Autogrill has also entered an exclusive agreement with Sky to open a Sky Lounge Bar, the first in an Italian airport. It is described as the “first info & entertainment concept designed and developed with Sky”. Looking out onto the check-in area from behind a glass partition, the Sky Lounge Bar will feature a series of theme screens showing non-stop sports, news and culture programmes.
The table service restaurant – La Galleria – will be given a new layout and restyled. Alongside the traditional Italian dishes on the menu, La Galleria will now be offering local Milanese recipes revisited exclusively for the restaurant by the renowned chef Claudio Sadler.
The traditional Ciao Ristorante will feature an ethnic menu corner under the Asia label, from the group’s international brand portfolio, and a new concept Steak House offering a variety of grilled meats and Tex Mex recipes. A special children’s area will be installed near the free flow zone. The offering will also include some of Autogrill’s best known house brands, such as Acafé and Spizzico. The locations now operating in Terminal 2 (Ciao Ristorante and Acafé) will be completely renovated.
Malpensa is Italy’s second biggest airport and one of Europe’s main hubs, with over 19 million passengers and 227,000 flights a year. Between January and July 2006, the airport (Terminals 1 and 2) moved over 12,400,000 passengers, up +11.3% on the same period in 2005, according to Assaeroporti.
This trend is likely to intensify as new business develops in Terminal 2, which is enjoying considerable impetus from low cost airlines and in particular Easy Jet, which is basing its Italian operations there.
Autogrill operates in 12 airports in Italy (including Catania and Brindisi where it will open by the end of 2006). In first half 2006 its airport operations posted sales of €25.5 million, up +27.3% on €19.8m in the same period of 2005.
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