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Food & Beverage will be part of the big makeover at Prestwick |
SCOTLAND. Glasgow Prestwick International Airport, the fastest-growing airport in Scotland, is set to receive a retail-led £3 million (US$5.4 million) revamp. The move is designed to increase non-aeronautical revenues from the surging passenger numbers using Prestwick – up by a third this year to 2.1 million.
Prestwick’s rise has been driven by the expansion of low cost airline Ryanair, which accounts for almost all of Prestwick’s passengers. Reports said the airport now enjoys more daily scheduled European services than any other Scottish airport. The airport is located on the Ayrshire coast in Western Scotland, 35 minutes by road from Glasgow. It is primarily used by dedicated international freight and short-haul European passenger services.
However, low cost carrier Ryanair pays very low aviation fees. This, allied to a shortage of retailing, has led to a disappointing performance in airport revenues.
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The food court at Prestwick |
Lloyd Morrison, Managing Director of Prestwick’s New Zealand owners Infratil, told the company’s annual meeting earlier this month: “We’ve underestimated the growth in passengers, with the result that we are about to spend some serious money on the retail side – to improve the way the airport looks and to improve the facilities that are available to passengers.”
According to documents presented at the company’s recent annual general meeting, concession contribution per passenger had dropped to around £2.48 per passenger by June this year, compared with around £2.65 in March 2002, despite soaring passenger numbers during the period. However, that was mainly due to the introduction of competition to the airport’s car parking operations rather than any retail decline.
For the quarter ended 30 June, the airport experienced strong passenger growth (+21%), a performance not matched by commercial or cargo revenues. “With 100% ownership Infratil has moved to implement changes to reduce costs, capitalize on passenger growth and to remedy the loss of freight business,” said the company.
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Travelex Financial Services |
Phil Walker, the airport’s Executive Chairman, said that the revamp would start next month and be complete by Christmas.
Up to four new shops will be opened in both the main terminal and the departure lounge, including a landside pharmacy and Scottish gifts shop. The duty free shop will also be overhauled.
Prestwick used to run all of its own retail operations but now employs some concessionaires. Duty free remains self-operated. WH Smith operates the news, books and magazines outlets airside and landside; Select Service Partners runs the food & beverage outlets and Travelex Financial Services the Bureau de Change.
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WH Smith runs the news-stand operations |
David Grant, Prestwick’s Property and Retail Director, said: “Every day, some 5,500 people pass through our airport, and we want to make sure that their experience is memorable and the best it can be. All the growth has been in the morning, when we have had a lot more passengers in the terminal, so we have needed more shops. We have been overtrading – having more customers than we can handle.
“We’ll be introducing new retailers in the months ahead. Our passengers are always asking for more shops to browse in, particularly health and beauty or gifts. We shall shortly be inviting all interested parties to submit detailed proposals and then selecting the best retailers to enhance our shopping experience.
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Table shows declining concession revenue per passenger, driven by increased car parking competition |
“In addition, we shall also be completely refurbishing the airport’s Tax and Duty Free store.”
Grant told The Moodie Report that the current 300sq m duty and tax free store is being expanded to 500sq m and repositioned to the top of the lounge to create a walkthrough environment. Although Prestwick will continue to run its own duty free operations, there will be concession opportunities within the area for specialist sectors such as sunglasses and electronics, he said.
“Retailing is fundamentally important to us,” he said, due to the airport’s low aeronautical revenues. Grant said that the airport enjoyed a high average spend due to a healthy ratio of foreigners using the airport (50%), including a significant Scandinavian clientele. “From our benchmarking, we believe that our spend per passenger is among the highest of UK regional airports.”
Walker said further stages of redevelopment were already being planned for when the airport reaches the three and five million passenger stage. He added “Prestwick was built on a scale that it has yet to realise. The terminal has a high ceiling and loads of space. It is a terrific platform for further work.”
Meanwhile, he said Infratil planned to use Prestwick as a springboard to buy other European airports, using expertise built up there. Infratil has a 66% stake in Wellington International Airport, New Zealand’s third-largest airport.
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