POLAND. Warsaw Chopin Airport is planning to launch 15 new travel retail shops across a total floor space of 3,000sq m in May, as a major investment in Terminal A nears completion. The new commercial offer will also feature ten food & beverage outlets. The key retail stores will be operated by LS travel retail through its local division HDS Polska.
Newly-introduced brands will include Victoria’s Secret, Samsung, Ermenegildo Zegna, Emporio Armani, Salvatore Ferragamo, Ralph Lauren, a toy store and an M&€™s confectionery store. As reported, at the heart of the retail offer will be a 2,000sq m Aelia Duty Free store (one of two under the new-look Aelia branding).
In F&B there will be new McDonald’s and McCafé outlets. Other food service stores will include Espressamente Illy, The Flame, Misa, and the Bread & Co bakery. The new food court will offer Polish, Italian and fast-food cuisine.
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Warsaw’s new commercial zone will house 15 stores and ten F&B units |
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“We are opening a new section of the terminal with 15 new stores and ten new bars and restaurants. We want to expand the available product range with more luxurious brands for our passengers,” Warsaw Chopin Airport Spokesperson Przemyslaw Przybylski told The Moodie Report. “This is part of our plan to further increase the quality of our services. Year after year, the revenues generated by sales at our airport are growing at a rapid pace, and we hope to strengthen this trend with our investment.”
Przybylski said that the new outlets are being established as a response to the feedback obtained from passengers.
LS travel retail already operates two Aelia Duty Free stores located in the airport’s Schengen zone, while there are also two Aelia Duty Free and Keraniss stores located in the non-Schengen zone. Aelia Duty Free stores offer a wide range of liquor, confectionery, tobacco, fragrances & cosmetics, and Keraniss also sells Polish regional products, which include traditional sweets, meat products, honey and other goods. LS travel retail also manages Your Fashion Store, an outlet offering fashion and luxury products by Emanuel Berg, Hugo Boss, Kenzo, Armani Jeans, Longchamp, Furla, Samsonite and Montblanc.
Aelia Polska said that the “newly-established shops surprise passengers with their “¦ design. Purchases will be a unique experience.”
Launching the overhauled terminal will allow Warsaw Chopin to increase the airport’s capacity from the current 11 million passengers per year to up to 20 million passengers per year by 2020, according to the airport authority.
The latest announcement follows the release of the airport’s improved results for the first quarter of this year. From January to March 2015, Warsaw Chopin reported 2.1 million passengers, up +8.7% compared with the same period a year earlier. The airport also improved its financial results, with EBITDA climbing to PLN72 million (€18 million), up +2.6% compared with the first quarter of 2014, and its net profit tripled to PLN40.6 million (€10.15 million).
“The airport’s financial performance in 2015 is better than our estimates included in the latest annual plan and long-term forecast. The restructuring of the company has allowed us to cut operational costs by more than -20% and triple our net profit,” said Michal Kaczmarzyk, General Director of Polish Airports and Director of Warsaw Chopin Airport.
The airport is financing its expansion project through the issuance of bonds worth PLN 600 million (€150 million).
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Aelia Duty Free will carry a new look and branding (pictured is the retailer’s existing business at Warsaw) |
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