FRANCE. Filip Soete, well known and highly respected as the long-time Chief Commercial Officer at Nice Côte d’Azur Airport, has left his role.
He spent 23 years working at France’s second largest airport, overseeing a non-aeronautical business valued at around €100 million in revenue a year. Soete was responsible for the airport shops, food & beverage outlets, car parks, car rental, property development, new products and services, ecommerce, CRM and advertising business streams, leading a team of 70. He was also a member of the airport company’s Executive Committee.
Before taking over leadership of the commercial team in 2013, Soete had been Marketing and Communication Director since 1999.
Previous to that, he worked at Belgian national carrier Sabena, which he joined in 1988 as Regional Director, eventually becoming Sales & Marketing Director for Europe.
He is Chair of France’s duty free association AFCOV, and has also been Chair of the ACI Europe Business Forum.
Dermot Davitt writes: As commercial chief, Filip Soete played a hugely influential role in elevating the standards of retail, dining and services at Nice Côte d’Azur Airport. He was a central figure in the project to upgrade both terminals at the airport, which resulted in a diversifying of the commercial offer and, crucially, a subsequent doubling of revenues. During his tenure, Nice Côte d’Azur Airport was named Airport of the Year at the Frontier Awards in 2018.
He was a highly professional and much respected partner to the concessionaires that took space at Nice Airport over the years, with a spirit of curiosity about the next big trend and an eye for new brand or concept opportunities.
His door was always open to media partners too. I recall fondly the convivial mid-week lunches during Cannes week, as well as Filip’s gathering of editors at some of Singapore’s iconic venues, from Raffles Hotel to The Botanic Gardens, when he attended TFWA Asia Pacific. We join Filip’s many colleagues and friends in the industry in wishing him well in the next chapter of his career.
