HUNGARY. Budapest Airport, Heinemann Duty Free and Wizz Air are trialling an initiative which will see passengers spending at the airport receive a voucher to use onboard the plane.
The BARTA (Brand, Airline, Retailer, Technology, Airport) initiative will be trialled for three months and began today (1 March). Any departing Wizz Air passenger spending over €50 or €75 at the airport’s Heinemann Duty Free store will receive a €4.50 or €7.50 voucher, respectively.
Customers may redeem these vouchers onboard in the WIZZ Café, choosing from the airline’s range of hot drinks, fresh sandwiches, snacks, soft drinks or alcoholic beverages.
The offers will be promoted via the digital channels of all parties, including wizzair.com and the Wizz Air app. It is the first time that Wizz Air has participated in a shopping promotion of this size. Up to 1.75 million travellers are expected to book seats with the airline this summer.
The partners said the initiative, which was first announced at the Future Travel Experience Europe and Ancillary event in Dublin in June, had the “potential to revolutionise the duty free and travel retail industry”. They anticipate “sizeable increased revenues and footfall for all involved”.
Budapest Airport CCO Kam Jandu commented: “Airlines are the first engagement for every passenger travelling through an airport, from ticket purchase to check-in, and have 100% digital connectivity with the travellers.
“Bringing an airline into a travel retail relationship and working with its highly efficient connectivity with consumers can only serve to improve sales growth across the board.”
Jandu said he expected the initiative to create new income streams for all parties as well as brands. “Working together through BARTA principles opens up the opportunity to drive growth by presenting travellers with retail offers at every stage of the journey from sofa to shop to seat,” he noted.
Heinemann Duty Free Managing Director at Budapest Airport Ildikó Jankovich said: “We all serve one common goal: to make air travel a truly joyful event for everybody. Thus, the promotion fits in perfectly with our philosophy to accompany our customers along their journey through individually tailored offers and services at all touchpoints.
“We are very proud to be celebrating this pioneering cooperation together with our longstanding partner Budapest Airport and Wizz Air and we anticipate excellent results from this.”
Wizz Air Chief Commercial Officer George Michalopoulos added: “Wizz Air constantly strives to improve its services and product portfolio to best meet the needs of its savvy customers. As Budapest Airport’s largest airline serving 66 destinations, we are excited to launch another innovative initiative which will create further value for customers who choose Wizz Air.”
