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SSP has cemented its strong position at Oslo Airport |
NORWAY. SSP has captured a major new contract to operate over 30 food & beverage outlets at Oslo Airport. The five-year deal means the company will remain the sole F&B operator airside and on the landside departure level.
SSP will invest around £8 million in the new development (£6 million of which will be as initial capex). The new and refurbished units are scheduled to open between November this year and March 2012.
As part of the deal SSP will be introducing a number of new brands to the Norwegian market, with the full line-up to be announced shortly. Several of the company’s successful international own-brand names, which are already operating at the airport, will remain. These include Upper Crust – Oslo Airport is home to the world’s two largest outlets of this bakery brand.
The list also includes casual dining brand Salmon House Seafood Bar (with its selection of Norwegian seafood together with a selection of fine wines), the leading sports bar O’Learys and tapas offer Sinnataggen.
The company’s Monolitten free-flow restaurant (which was specially created for the airport and named after an iconic sculpture displayed in the capital’s Vigeland Park) will also continue to trade. These bars and restaurants will be complemented by SSP’s convenience store brand Point, which was created to meet the needs of the travelling consumer. A number of these outlets will be refurbished as part of the redevelopment of the terminal.
SSP’s Le Grand Comptoir brasserie (which was named “˜Best Food-led Café Bar/Restaurant’ for its Houston outlet at January’s Airport Food & Beverage Awards, organised by The Moodie Report) will also be featured, marking the brand’s first appearance in the Norwegian market. SSP will also continue to run two lounges, as well as a staff café for flight crews.
SSP said that research into the needs and behaviour of passengers at Oslo helped to shape its selection of brands.
It was the company’s strong brand portfolio, coupled with the success of its current operations at the airport that were instrumental in securing the deal, according to Espen Ettre, Director of Business Development and Real Estate at Oslo Airport.
“SSP offered an outstanding range of bars, cafés and restaurants that are ideally suited to our passengers here at Oslo,” he said. “They really understand the travelling consumer, and how to operate within the travel environment. The local management team is a strong one, and we’re confident that SSP Norway will continue to meet the high expectations of our customers.”
Morten Solberg Nilsen, Managing Director of SSP Norway, said he was delighted that SSP’s long and successful relationship with Oslo Airport would continue.
“Oslo is of course one of Europe’s most important airports, and we’re very pleased to be playing a part in this major development project which will double the retail space at the airport by 2017. We’re looking forward to working in partnership with the airport and making a significant contribution towards helping them achieve their goal of becoming the best airport in Europe. This prestigious and significant contract win enables us to consolidate our business here in Scandinavia.”
Passenger numbers at the airport are forecast to rise from 19 million in 2010 to 22 million in 2012. As a consequence, SSP expects the number of people it employs at the airport to rise from the current level of 700 people to 800 people by the end of next year.
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SSP operates a mix of national and international brands, with seafood bars and restaurants among the signature units |
