CHINA/SINGAPORE. Sino-Singapore Chongqing Airport Commercial Management Co., Ltd, the joint venture set up by Changi Airports International (CAI) and Chongqing Airport Group (CAGC) to manage the non-aeronautical business at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, has hailed the opening of the ‘Starry Galleria’ multi-brand, multi-retailer zone on Sunday.
The partners are also preparing to mark five years of collaboration later this year and have announced ambitious plans to further develop together (see below).
As noted in Martin Moodie’s on location report from Chongqing Airport, 3 September marked a dual inauguration for the Sino-Singapore Chongqing Airport Commercial Management Co and for DFS Group of a new shopping offer at the airport, gateway to China’s fourth-biggest municipality.
The opening of DFS Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport Boutiques in the domestic Terminal 3A formed a key part of the inauguration of Starry Galleria.
The openings were graced by senior executives from key stakeholders. They included Party Committee Secretary & Chongqing Airport Group Chairman and General Manager Dai Ke; Changi Airport Group CEO and Changi Airports International Chairman Lee Seow Hiang; DFS China President Nancy Liu and Chongqing Airport Group Deputy General Manager and Sino-Singapore Chongqing Airport Commercial Management Co. Ltd Chairwoman Chen Shiqin.
The partners highlighted the positive results from their strong joint cooperation to date.
In the past five years, they said, through leveraging Changi’s expertise in airport commercial and with strategic guidance from CAGC, the joint venture has raised the commercial positioning of Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport and achieved many ‘firsts’ at a Chinese airport.
Key highlights include:
*The award of domestic retail concessions to DFS and Dufry, making Chongqing Airport the first airport in China to gather the presence of three big international travel retailers, including Lagardère Travel Retail. As reported, this marks DFS’ first domestic terminal retail contract in Mainland China.
*The joint venture has attracted global luxury brands to open stores at Chongqing Airport, noted the partners. The latest include Gucci (July 2023) and Cartier (August 2023). Burberry will also hold a grand opening later in 2023.
The partners said: “The presence of world-renowned luxury labels reflects the high level of confidence international brands and retailers have in Chongqing Airport’s commercial business and its continued appeal post-Covid. It also contributed to the internationalisation of Chongqing Airport.”
*The joint venture has also instilled the airport environment with a strong Sense of Place and shines a light on well-known heritage brands. In 2023, the airport welcomed local favourites: 渝味晓宇火锅（Yuwei Xiaoyu Hot Pot）、徐鼎盛民间菜 (Xu Ding Sheng Min Jian Cai) and 左婆婆扁担面 (Zuo Po Po Bian Dan Mian). Commercial storefronts have also incorporated design elements to feature the characteristics of Chongqing, including Hongya Cave and mountain terrains.
*The joint venture has also been testing new concepts as part of an commercial experimentation drive. This included an Audi VIP Service Centre – a hybrid CIP lounge and car model showroom at T3A, and a drive-in car cinema at T1. In 2022, it introduced Zoodle by WHSmith, an immersive toy-themed zone, at the T3A boarding gate area. In 2021, Chinese consumer electronics brand Xiaomi opened its duplex flagship store at Chongqing Airport, the first in a Chinese airport, combining sales and after-sales service.
The partners released a statement saying, “As a key project in the aviation field, the commercial cooperation leverages the management expertise and resource advantages of Changi Airport Group to greatly improve the commercial image and quality of Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport.
“It supports Chongqing’s development as a strategic highland for inland opening and an international consumption centre city.”
Looking ahead, they noted their desire to “give full play to the driving role of the two hubs and expand the depth of ‘point-to-point’ cooperation around financial services, aviation industry, transportation and logistics, information and communication, digital economy, channel trade and other fields”. They will also promote connectivity between central and western China and the ASEAN region, “and write a new chapter of exchanges and cooperation between the two sides in the new era”.
Dai Ke hailed the concerted efforts of relevant government departments and the airport business partners in progressing the joint venture.
As a next step, he said, Chongqing Airport Group will accelerate the construction of an international aviation hub and continue to build a Chongqing-Singapore aviation corridor. Using lessons from the development of lifestyle, retail and entertainment venue Jewel Changi Airport, Chongqing Airport also plans to build an international shopping mall to become the city’s landmark.
It will also develop the airport economy and cultivate an international trade vision under the slogan “wherever the route goes, the goods will be purchased and sold”, turning the Singapore-China commercial cooperation into a new partnership model with influence and reputation in the industry, he said.
Lee Seow Hiang said that Singapore Changi Airport and Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport have developed into a “community of solidarity”. He said Changi Airport has the confidence and experience to help Chongqing Airport better implement the Chinese government’s ‘Belt and Road initiative as well as work with countries and regions along the new land-sea corridor in the west.
Nancy Liu highlighted the tourism opportunities afforded by the cooperation between the parties. She said that DFS looks forward to future strategic partnerships that can further enrich the shopping experience of travel retail consumers and that the partners can jointly “create new retail legends”.
The partners said that the joint venture stayed profitable throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. It minimised early concession termination rate by working with tenants and introducing various support measures, expanding sales channels and catchment areas as well as offering rental rebates beyond the state mandate.
The airport commercial collaboration is part of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Connectivity Initiative. CAI, a wholly owned subsidiary of Changi Airport Group (CAG), holds a 49% stake in the joint venture and CAGC 51%.
{Look out for our more extensive report to follow, including an exclusive interview with DFS China President Nancy Liu and a profile of T3A’s wider retail offer}. 
