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Abu Dhabi Airport Catering & Duty Free MD Mohamed Mounib: “Traffic trends across Asia have shifted through the growth of premium and low-cost carriers. [We] need to understand how these trends will affect businesses” |
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| MEDFA board of directors meet members of the press at the meeting at the TFWA press centre |
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From left: Dubai Duty Free MD Colm McLoughlin and GM George Horan |
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| From left: Aer Rianta International-Middle East MD John Sutcliffe, Aldeasa International Business Director Julio Lopez Castano and International Trading Duty Free Trading Agencies MD Kamal Toulan |
CANNES. The possibility of sub-letting retail space and the impact of airline development will be key issues to be thrown up at the Middle East Duty Free Association conference on 27 and 28 November in Dubai.
And anyone who wants to do business in the region must attend the conference, MEDFA President Mohamed Mounib stressed at a press conference.
“The region is the fastest-growing in the world”¦ and we are looking at things that we didn’t do before,” he said.
He later told The Moodie Report: “We are used to running all the retail space ourselves. But at the conference we will talk about sub-letting, to let people understand that it could perhaps lift the industry to higher standards.”
The duty free industry in the Middle East is likely to continue its rapid growth, as airlines plan major fleet expansions to cater for increasing passenger numbers.
“The Middle East will be spending about $51 billion on aviation-related industry in the next few years,” said Mounib.
Emirates has recently expanded its fleet with 15 new aircraft, and has plans to add a new plane each month for the rest of this decade. Qatar Airways is investing $6.2 billion in new aircraft. And one-year-old Etihad Airways is expecting to carry two million passengers in and out its Abu Dhabi hub by the end of 2007.
The Middle East has also become a very popular destination for the Indian subcontinent. Besides business travellers there is a large proportion of contract workers who travel to the region for work.
Mounib told The Moodie Report: “That’s why the confectionery sector is doing so well. The contract workers come for six months, and when they go home they buy gifts for everyone. They bring back chocolates and sweets for the family and friends”¦ and they have big families.”
Further MEDFA Conference highlights:
Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation Director Peter Harbison will give a more detailed account of the impact of airline development on the Middle East.
Habchi and Chalhoub Managing Director Anthony Chalhoub will present a case study on the developments at Cairo Airport.
Duncan Alexander, Managing Director of data analyst company OAG Data, will give a perspective on how airline schedules can benefit travel retail planning.
“It’s a very exciting time for us,” said Mounib.
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