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Retailers at Heathrow posted an +8.8% rise in gross turnover in 2011, led by a boom in luxury spending |
UK. London Heathrow has been named the world’s Best Airport for Shopping for a third year in a row at the World Airport Awards, held on Thursday at the Passenger Terminal Expo event in Vienna. The awards are the result of the Skytrax 2011/12 World Airport Survey, a leading independent study of airport passenger satisfaction.
The awards were a double success for the UK’s hub airport as Terminal 5 was also named the world’s Best Airport Terminal following votes by airport passengers from across the globe. The latest Skytrax survey assessed customer service and facilities across 388 airports.
Heathrow Commercial Director John Holland-Kaye said: “We are thrilled that Heathrow has been rewarded for a third time at the prestigious World Airport Awards. Terminal 5 is a great showcase of our vision of Heathrow’s future and the level of passenger experience we are working to deliver right across our airport. Together with a shopping experience which responds to our customers’ demands, we are proud that our work towards becoming Europe’s hub of choice is being recognised by the most important judge, our passengers.”
2011 was a record breaking year for Heathrow retailers, which posted +8.8% growth in gross turnover led by a boom in luxury spending.
According to BAA, Heathrow has the highest retail sales of any airport in the world, ahead of Incheon International Airport in South Korea (which has the highest duty free sales). Gross retail sales at Heathrow increased in 2011 to £1.7billion/US$2.6billion (2010: £1.5 billion/US$2.4 billion), while Net Retail Income per passenger increased by +5.3% to £4.35 (2010: £4.13)*.
Heathrow has over 52,000sq m of retail space and more than 340 retail and catering outlets. 2011 saw openings by Miu Miu and Spanish chain Zara, which opened its first ever UK airport store in Terminal 3. Pop-ups from Jack Wills and Ted Baker followed in Terminal 5 in late 2011 and early 2012.
*Note: These figures are a subset of total commercial numbers and include all in-terminal shops, but exclude media, telecoms, car rental and car parking. This, said BAA, explains the slight difference from the Net Retail Income per passenger figures released last month.]
