CHINA. Xi’an Xianyang International Airport (XXIA) is rolling out a series of exciting enhancements to its retail and food & beverage offer, adding further lustre to its reputation as one of China’s most progressive airports, particularly in terms of consumer services.
Xi’an Xianyang International, the main airport serving the Shaanxi Province capital Xi’an, is the largest and busiest airport in China’s northwest and the eighth-busiest nationwide.
Chief Operations Officer and Member of the Board of Directors Wolfgang Weil told The Moodie Report that the bundle of initiatives include China’s first walk-through duty free store (operated by CDFG), to be housed in Xi’an Airport’s new international pier set to open in April this year.
“It was quite a tough undertaking to convince CDFG to go into a walkthrough layout for the first time in China but we were able to show them international research that showed that the walk-through format increases sales on average by +20-25%,” said Weil. “And we are glad that they finally joined us on our path of innovation at XXIA.”
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(Above and below) A real Sense of Place has been fostered via exciting and authentic new food & beverage concepts |
The pier will also feature a central holding area surrounded by duty paid shops and food & beverage outlets. Its design and layout was done by The Design Solution, UK. “Due to the compact design of the entire facility it was possible to develop a concept that enables passengers to stay in the central commercial area up until 10 minutes before boarding starts,” said The Design Solution Founder & Director Robbie Gill.
“We are excited that we could blend the world’s best practices in operational and commercial concepts as well as layout and design into our new international pier,” added Weil.
“But we are also constantly upgrading our domestic offers,” he continued. “Currently we are adding three new luxury brands [MCM, Tommy Hilfiger and a children’s fashion store called Little Star – Ed] and a Pacific Coffee outlet in the core of our central commercial area of T3 in a joint project development with LS Travel Retail. The coffee outlet especially will function as an anchor and will increase dwell time in that important area.”
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Xi’an also opened two new food & beverage concepts recently: a Muslim halal food full-service restaurant at the T3 check-in hall in December (close to the new international check-in which will open in April 2015) and a local delicacies food alley (designed as a small alley in an old Chinese downtown) in the Ground Transportation Centre adjacent to T3 arrivals in late January.
“These are first-time concepts at Chinese airports,” said Weil. “They underline our regional culture and deliver a true “˜Sense of place’ of Xi’an as the terminus of the Silk Road.
“Both concepts are so beautiful. You feel like you are in a downtown restaurant in Xi’an’s famous Muslim quarter or as if you’re strolling in an ancient downtown alley, enjoying all these delicious local food offerings, such as eight different types of noodles.”
Weil said he was particularly proud of the airport’s recent soft-opening of a 5-star airport hotel operated by Regal Group – hoping that this facility will be a “little sister” of the highly successful Regal Airport Hotel at Hong Kong International Airport.
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Regal in name, regal in appearance |
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“This is the first 5-star airport hotel in China to have a fully air-conditioned bridge connection to terminal facilities,” he said. “It is directly connected to T3 and with direct in-door access to T2. When our new international pier opens in April this year, we will have achieved something unique and probably hard to beat – from a 5-star hotel check-out to international check-in counters in less than three minutes.”
Xi’an Xianyang International Airport Co, one of China’s most commercially minded airport companies, is operated as a sino-foreign joint-venture led by China West Airport Group with Fraport as a 24.5% shareholder being in charge of the commercial development. The Design Solution played a key role in the commercial planning since.
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(Above and below) Xi’an Xianyang International Airport has one of the most diverse airport retail offers in China |
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