Live images from opening day at new-look Kansai Airport T1 airside departures zone : Moodie Davitt Report

JAPAN. It’s not often we get to bring you live shots from an opening day at a major airport retail and food beverage location. But today is different as we are on location to witness the historic unveiling of Kansai International Airport Terminal 1’s impressive and beautifully atmospheric new airside departures area.

As reported, the expansive commercial offer is anchored by a 2,500sq m KIX Duty Free walk-through store, which opened today alongside KIX Duty Free’s renewed pre-order service.

Kansai Airports Representative Director & President Fumio Owada welcomes guests to the KIX Duty Free Opening Ceremony tonight after a hugely encouraging opening day

Kansai Airports Corporate EVP & CCO Non Aeronautical Stephane Geffroy delivers a heartfelt message of appreciation to his team, to brand partners and to Lagardère Travel Retail. “I wanted to say a big thank you to all of you because from the feedback we hear it’s a great success and actually a great success together. The project was a vision we had to really change how we do travel retail as opposed to how we how we did it before. You all supported us and believed in that and that’s just fantastic.”

This leads through to a further specialist, destination and luxury retail zone – including Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Chaumet, Gucci, Hermès, Bvlgari, Hermès, Prada and Tasaki boutiques – complemented by a diverse food & beverage offer (including the first airport Café Dior by Anne-Sophie Pic).

KIX Duty Free is run by Kansai Airports Retail & Services (part of Kansai Airports). Lagardère Travel Retail provides an extensive range of support services, including a supply contract.

From 6am today local time, hordes of passengers have been experiencing the new facility. And as the podcasts, videos and images below (with many more to follow) confirm, plenty of those travellers are becoming customers.

Look out for further reports, profiling the various aspects of the retail and F&B offer and the views of senior executives from Kansai Airports, Kansai Airports Retail & Services and Lagardère Travel Retail. ✈

To celebrate the opening of the airside departures zone, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on 5 December with the stakeholders of Kansai International Airport including Yoshiyuki Yamaya, Representative Director and CEO of Kansai Airports, and Benoit Rulleau, Representative Director and Co-CEO

ROLL-CALL OF LUXURY

The Louis Vuitton boutique, elegantly transparent from the outside, attracted encouraging levels of business on opening day

The refined Dior boutique includes a world-first airport Dior Café (below)

EARLY MORNING SHOPPING BONANZA

ROLL-CALL OF LUXURY

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