Commercial set to play key role at new Istanbul Sabiha Gökcen Airport terminal

The shape of things to come: how the new terminal at Istanbul Sabiha GÃ¶kcen International Airport will look by October

TURKEY. The 29 October opening of a new terminal at Istanbul Sabiha GÃ¶kcen International Airport (SGIA) will herald a new era for non-aeronautical revenues at the city’s second airport. That’s according to airport operator Istanbul Sabiha GÃ¶kcen International Airport Investment Development and Operation Inc – a partnership between GMR Group, Limak Holdings and Malaysia Airports.

Server Aydin: commercial revenues to grow to 50% of SGIA’s income

Currently non-aeronautical revenues account for 30% of income at SGIA – but this will eventually rise to 50% at the new terminal (which replaces the existing one -Ed), said Chief Commercial Officer Server Aydin.

“The experience and know-how of the airport consortium partners, as well as the consumer-friendly design of the terminal, will help us raise the proportion of non-aeronautical revenues,” Aydin told The Moodie Report in Istanbul.

“The major principle behind the new terminal is to make it passenger-friendly, and add a level of comfort to travellers while they use our facility. We want easy access and no long queues, and the logical flow of the terminal helps this. If passengers are stressed about getting around, they don’t shop.

“A vital element has been how we placed key retail and food & beverage activities close together so that passengers can dine or shop in areas adjacent to each other. It is more commercially effective to take this integrated approach – and in some ways is similar to, for example, Heathrow Terminal 3 in this respect.”

He added: “The knowledge of the three partners – GMR, Limak and Malaysia Airports – has been very important in creating this logical, integrated flow around the terminal, and it will greatly enhance our ability to drive commercial revenues.”

The new terminal, with an enclosed area of 180,000sq m, covers four storeys, with a wave-shaped roof. It will have capacity for 25 million passengers a year.

Rapid growth: The strong upward curve in Sabiha GÃ¶kcen’s passenger traffic

The terminal houses a 5,000sq m space for food & beverage outlets, and 4,500sq m of space for duty free, 3,300sq m in Departures and 1,200sq m in Arrivals. Setur Duty Free will operate the duty free business (as it does in the existing terminal) while food & beverage will be handled by airport-owned subsidiary LGM as well as a number of local concessionaires.

German, UK and Turkish traffic dominate today – but SGIA management wants more Russia/CIS and Middle East business

“Passengers will see brands such as Burger King and Gloria Jean’s Coffee, but also their favourite Turkish brands. It’s vital for us to target Turkish tastes as domestic passenger volumes have been rising faster than international numbers. We also plan to be watchful on F&B pricing – which has been the source of complaints against many airports in recent years – and we will benchmark carefully against downtown prices as well as other airports.”

Work in progress: The Moodie Report Deputy Publisher Dermot Davitt visits the new terminal last week

The airport company plans to drive aggressively towards its 25 million capacity (SGIA handled 4.3 million passengers in 2008, with just over 6 million projected for 2009 -Ed) by attracting new airlines in the years ahead.

“Our major target in 2009/2010 is CIS and Russian airlines,” noted Aydin. “Those passengers stand at just 3% of our business today, but we would like that proportion to be 20%. We also want to be a bridge between east and west, and to connect Europe with the Middle East and Asia. With that in mind, transit traffic is becoming very important. Last year our transit numbers rose by +78% and that will be a factor in our continuing growth.”

We’ll feature more details on the forthcoming new terminal soon, with an extensive report on Turkey in our Digital Print Edition for September.

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