Vienna Airport seeks Expressions of Interest in key retail spaces at Southern Terminal extension

AUSTRIA. Vienna Airport this week begins the tender process for key speciality retail spaces at the ambitious €420 million southern terminal expansion, set to open in Q2 2027.

As reported, the extension will deliver a strong Austrian Sense of Place and 10,000sq m of high-quality retail and food & beverage space. Speaking to The Moodie Davitt Report in Cannes last week, Vienna Airport Joint CEO and COO Julian Jäger said the project is “on track and on budget”.

The process begins with Expressions of Interest (EOI) from potential partners, with those who sign up being provided with bid documents, and a likely February deadline for submissions. The opportunities span a range of speciality retail concepts, excluding duty free and convenience stores, with food & beverage leasing to follow. Separately, Vienna Airport is in direct talks with luxury brands about taking boutique spaces.

Vienna Airport Senior Vice President Centre Management Philipp Ahrens said: “By summer 2025 we want to have a clear picture of our tenant structure, to an 80% level we hope. Then interior fitting will start in 2026 to fit in around key construction windows.

“We have had strong early interest from the market but now we want to begin the process and see what is really out there in terms of concrete interest and eventually, proposals.

“We are open to new partners. We have a few key partners in Vienna already, but we are also very open to participation from the rest of the market. We really encourage this as nothing is set in stone yet. It’s an open competition, and we believe in competition because that usually increases the quality of offer.”

On what Vienna Airport is seeking from partners, Ahrens added: “We support innovative concepts of course. We know that Gen Z travellers will be a huge share of guests in future, so we welcome potential partners’ ideas on this.

“The partners should also help us convey the strong sense of Viennese design and hospitality that will feature in this beautiful new environment. It should fit in with the ‘golden heritage’ design concept we developed along with [UK consultancy] Portland, which appears in other parts of the airport. And of course the quality of the interior fitting should match our expectations and the standards we have set for the building.”

As noted above, the Vienna Airport team has been discussing potential partnership with luxury brands, as it aims to strike the “right mixture between luxury, upper premium and premium to have a wide variety of offerings,” according to Ahrens.

“We are flexible in the boutique spaces, with 250sq m outlets as well as some concepts which can be accommodated in a 60sq m unit. It’s now up to us to find the right mixture from a brand perspective but also from a size perspective. Having a number of units with 8m high facades means there is something very tempting for the luxury market.”

While acknowledging that the market for luxury brands at many airports is currently soft, Ahrens said that the airport team is optimistic about attracting high-end brands who recognise the potential.

“The infrastructure and space will represent a considerable upgrade on the current T3, and there are nice adjacencies with high-quality dining and coffee concepts.”

Jäger said: “In the past Vienna Airport may not have been held in the same breath as other top European airports but we now have a very strong luxury market potential.

“Vienna is a city of luxury, culture and hospitality, and it does very well from a tourism perspective. Last summer was an absolute record for Vienna with a huge influx from tourists from the Arabian Peninsula, mainly Saudi Arabia.

“If you ask luxury brands, many will tell you that their shops in Vienna city centre are among their top locations in Europe. As a destination Vienna works very well. The project as such is designed for luxury. From a size perspective, we are looking at more than 13 million passengers departing through this building once we streamline operations across the airport. The new building will offer access to a very high percentage of non-Schengen passengers at Vienna.”

The terminal expansion will enhance services and connectivity but is not a response to urgent capacity needs, noted Jäger. “We could still serve 40-45 million passengers a year with the current infrastructure. Yes we are adding capacity but operationally we are already very good. Capacity is not the issue, space is the issue.

“This building is about enhancing the passenger experience. It’s about delivering a more pleasant travel experience built around Vienna as a destination.

“The big game changer for us will be that we have a spacious, great terminal. Our aim is to be in the top league of terminals in Europe with this building, and by 2030 to be a five star airport.”

Performance in the year to date has been strong in passenger traffic and commercial terms.

Center Management & Hospitality income grew by +12.9% in the first half, outstripping a +7.9% year-on-year rise in passenger traffic to 14.4 million at Vienna Airport.

Jäger said: “To the end of August we were slightly ahead of 2019 numbers, and 2019 was an absolute record for us in traffic terms, with 31.7 million passengers.

“Let’s where 2024 ends up but we anticipate around 31.5 million, which is essentially a full recovery and very positive in light of the geopolitical situation in Ukraine and the Middle East. We have seen some shifts in traffic. We are very strong to and from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, we are working hard to get more Chinese airlines back again, India we see as a strong future market, North America is already a strong market – Austrian Airlines just started to Boston with high load factors – and this all reflects Vienna’s status as a great tourist destination.”

Ahrens said: “We will have a second consecutive record year as far as commercial revenues are concerned. We have done quite a lot of refurbishments and new openings in the last two years so more than 50% of the offer has changed, and that impact we see now in the revenues. So that is a very positive message.

“The downside with high traffic growth is that the spend per pax goes down a little, because we simply cannot accommodate the potential they have to spend money because there is not enough space.

“That is also why we are so eager to get going on the extension project because that’s a real upside opportunity from a commercial perspective, one that will elevate Vienna Airport to the next stage.” ✈