MALAYSIA. Malaysia Airports and its retail subsidiary Eraman have opened the Food Garden at Langkawi International Airport. It is one element in a group-wide ‘Commercial Reset’ that will encompass all five major international airports in the country. It also marks an important step forward for Eraman in extending its food & beverage footprint.
Located in Arrivals Hall, Level 1, the Food Garden features a mix of local and international F&B brands such as Starbucks, Hainan Taste, Marrybrown and Nasi Campur Suria. Soon to open will be Street Churros, Old Town White Coffee and Little Wok Kitchen.
The Food Garden complements other F&B openings that include Costa Coffee (the brand’s first café in Malaysia), Ya Kun Kaya Toast (also a Malaysian first) and BurgerKing’s first outlet in Langkawi.
Malaysia Airports Senior General Manager Commercial Services Division Mohammad Nazli Abdul Aziz said: “As part of Malaysia Airports’ Commercial Reset strategy, we are designing the F&B zones to offer a range of tastes and price-points to appeal to a wide range of audiences, from budget-conscious travellers to those who love to indulge in fine dining.”
The Commercial Reset is one of the pillars of group strategy. It aims to position Malaysia as a preferred global destination by building airports on a “sustainable, relevant and competitive” basis. The strategy aims to raise the commercial profile of international airports in Malaysia through real estate improvement, brand positioning improvement, Sense of Place allied to new tenant and product mix.
It is being developed through benchmarking against other world-class international airports combined with consumer data from each airport to identify purchasing trends and demographics.
Nazli said: “Reset will transform Malaysia Airports [by] changing the perception that an airport is merely a transit hub. We are moving towards building a Total Airport Experience (TAE) by introducing new elements in our international airports to promote them as vibrant destinations for both business and leisure travellers alike. This will have a positive impact for various stakeholders ranging from the airport operator, retailers, passengers and the wider airport community at large.”
One of the initiatives to promote F&B at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is the annual month-long KULinary campaign, which since 2016 features the top 20 F&B outlets at KLIA and klia2, as selected by undercover food reviewers. Starting this year, the campaign will be extended to include outstanding F&B at Langkawi Airport.
The Food Garden at KLIA is next in line for an upgrade with renovation works to commence in Q4 2019, with the anticipated reopening scheduled for Q2 2020 (renderings below).
There, a new garden concept across 1,300sq m of space will seat 500, also featuring a range of local and international cuisines and brands. The KLIA Food Garden will also introduce automation and e-services in the form of self-ordering kiosks and allow the use of e-wallets for payment.
Malaysia Airports said that the enhanced F&B offerings should positively impact its Airport Service Quality (ASQ) rating, while enhancing the revenue performance of Eraman and Malaysia Airports’ Commercial Services arm through sales and rental yields respectively.
