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A new Chinese wonder of the world: An amazing panoroma as two planes descend over the ‘turtle shell’ of the airport and ‘into the dragon’ that is Beijing Capital International Airport |
CHINA. Last Friday’s opening of Beijing Capital International Airport’s spectacular new Terminal 3, said to be the largest covered structure ever built, includes one of the world’s most upscale domestic travel retail offers.
Terminal 3’s domestic area will handle an expected 33 million passengers this year. The addition of the US$2.7 billion T3 will enable the airport to handle 76 million passengers a year across its three terminals, against 53 million passengers in 2007.
The building runs for 3.25 kilometres (2.0 miles) and covers 98 hectares (245 acres) of floor space, the equivalent of about 170 soccer pitches. That’s equivalent to all five London Heathrow terminals under one roof with an extra +17% of floor space left over.
The majority of the travel retail stores in T3’s domestic area are the fruits of a partnership between Global & Beijing International Co (GABICO) and Beijing Capital Airport Commercial Company (ACT). GABICO has an exclusive long-term supply and retail agreement for the duty paid travel retail business in the new terminal. Besides supplying the airport company, Gabico is also in charge of store concepts and strategy and all related business negotiations.
This week The Moodie Report visited Beijing to view the new terminal and interview ACT and GABICO management. Our full report will appear in a forthcoming special edition of The Moodie Report PLUS, out later this month.
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The ACT management team meet The Moodie Report to discuss the vision and commercial execution of Terminal 3; (Left to right): Zhang Kunlan, General Manager; Qian Liqin, Chairman; Foster Fu, Market Development Director |
The joint retail offer embraces 17 stores, 130 brands and 54,000 skus. It includes an upscale watches store, including shop-in-shops, a series of boutiques for luxury and/or fashion brands such as Ermenegildo Zegna, Cartier, Omega and Dunhill.
There is also a near 300sq m perfumes & cosmetics store, an upscale wines & spirits outlet, a generic eyewear shop dominated by luxury and fashion brands, a landside confectionery store and a series of specialist and generic boutiques.
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(Left) This external shot only hints at the vastness of the terminal; (Right) The towering red steel structure (conveying the colour of the dragon), punctuated by triangles of natural light, combine to spectacular effect | |
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(Left) Dragon imagery abounds in a terminal that marries Chinese traditionalism and international modernism; (Right) Only a few international carriers have transferred to T3 but later in the month business will pick up in earnest | |
ACT management have attempted to satisfy “all types of consumer and all walks of life” with a diverse offer covering a wide range of categories, brands and price-points. The new duty paid offer – and the opening of the duty free stores in the international area later this month by Sunrise Duty Free – will help drive ACT’s vision of achieving a 60-40% mix in terms of non-aeronautical vs aeronautical revenues. In the year 2000 the non-aeronautical proportion was just 20% (today the balance is roughly equal).
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East meets west in an impressively diverse cosmetics and fragrances selection at Terminal 3 |
Leading brand companies have reacted positively to the terminal and to its new travel retail offer. The Swatch Group Travel Retail Manager Worldwide Christophe Savioz (who also heads luxury brand Omega’s travel retail business) told The Moodie Report: “I cannot think of any other domestic terminal in the world as good as this. What I have seen to date – both internationally and domestic – is very, very impressive.
“I also don’t know any other airports that give as much importance to watches as they have in Beijing. They [GABICO and ACT] have set a new benchmark for watch retailing in airports. And I think Beijing will be the new benchmark for retailing in Chinese airports.” [More supplier reaction will be featured in our upcoming Beijing edition of The Moodie Report PLUS].
Claudine Kawiak, who is Chairman of both GABICO and its parent company Global Retail Services (and a partner in both), will be a special guest speaker at The ACI Airport Business & Trinity Forum in Shanghai (31 March-2 April). GABICO has also become a sponsor of the event. The ‘Trinity Forum’, as it is commonly known, is a joint venture between The Moodie Report and Airports Council International. It is the world’s leading airport commercial revenues conference. This year’s event has the best programme ever and is attracting heavy delegate bookings, underlining the level of industry interest in China.
GABICO and Global Retail Services are in turn part of powerful Dutch food, beverages and distribution giant B&S Global (www.bs-gg.com).
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Global Retail Services and GABICO Chairman Claudine Kawiak (left) with GABICO CEO Tammy Tian |
Under the leadership of Claudine Kawiak, a pioneer of the luxury business in Russia and one of the sector’s most esteemed executives, Global Retail Services is intent on developing its retail, supply and advisory business in China and elsewhere in Asia.
Claudine Kawiak has travel retail and luxury in her blood – her father Jacques Lemoíne opened France’s first duty free shop in downtown Paris in 1948. He also pioneered the concept of the perfume coffret, today such an integral element of the industry.
Her company, Hermitage, which she co-founded in Russia in 1994, became synonymous with the development and careful nurturing of luxury brands in the country’s then still emergent economy. She became involved with GABICO in March 2007, where she immediately spotted another great opportunity. “It was a local market business adapted for the travel retail channel,” she says. “The Chinese consumer was very keen to have great brands so the opportunity was tremendous.” Last Friday at Beijing Capital International Airport, thanks to the tenacity of Claudine Kawiak and her Beijing team and the vision of the ACT management, that opportunity began to be realised.
STOP PRESS: Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore Director (Commercial) Lim Peck Hoon today confirmed her acceptance to speak at the Trinity Forum, completing an outstanding line-up of industry leaders and progressive thinkers. More details soon.
For the full ‘Trinity Forum’ programme details, click here.
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