INSIGHT

Twenty non-aeronautical
airport success factors
Kateryna Hess outlines
her benchmark study
on the success factors
in non-aviation
business for the travelretail industry, which
identifies factors of
success in German
airports

Non-aviation factors for success

Group 1
Group 2
Must-Have Nice-to-have
Factors of success
Factors of success

Group 3
Less-important
Factors of success

Number of square metres per one million

passengers
Quality & quantity of non-aviation areas
Merchandise mix

Variation in offer and continuous adjustment
for every target group
Creating the terminal concept
Market research & questioning costumers
Price strategy/ price distinction
Quality of staying and atmosphere of comfort
Consideration of trends and new regulations
Passenger volume and mixture

Local colour

Fast & optimised passenger handling

Operators model
Eventisation
Retail theatre (entertainment through social
media, e-commerce & m-commerce, digitalisation)
Developing Airport City
Fair prices for secondary costumers (not passengers)
Cooperating with airlines (exchange of data)
Business development
Concept of guidance

Source: Dornier Consulting

he identification and valuation of success factors in

non-aviation business for
German airports strategic
success factors in nonaviation areas have been analysed
empirically and displayed by means of

DFNIs & m1nd-sets Question of the Month

I enjoy going to the duty-free shops because of novelties and
exclusives they offer

a model within the scope of the

benchmark study.
According to the study, non-aviation
includes not only retail (duty-free,
duty-paid and food and beverage), but
also parking, car rental, other means
of transportation, advertisement, real
estate development and management
and development of new business
areas. The final category implies business development, identification of
potential of non-aviation activities and
consideration of new trends with the
main focus on future revenues.

Success factors

Disagree: 69%
Agree: 31%
Three out of ten international travellers enjoy going to duty-free due to
the exclusives and novelties.
Interestingly, almost every second international passenger from Brazil and
Argentina enjoys duty-free because of novelties and exclusives and has the
highest shares in the world, followed by the Russian, Chinese, Indian and UAE
travellers with around 40%. Peter Mohn, co-founder and partner of m1nd-set,
says: Our research clearly shows that travellers from the BRIC countries and
other emerging markets are the most attracted by novelties and duty-free
exclusives, whereas passengers from Europe are the least captivated.
Overall, the younger the travellers are, the more interested they are
in duty-free exclusives and novelties, as well as women and less
frequent travellers.
Source: m1nd-set
n=2,004

8 Duty-Free News International February 2013

The study identified 20 relevant strategic factors of success based on

detailed interviews with retail managers
of key German airports including Frankfurt, Mnich, Hamburg and Berlin; the
manager of Macquarie Group, responsible for commercial activities at Sydney
airport; the German airport association;
a marketing company specialising in
advertising strategy for airports; and a
number of airport retail operators.
The study concluded that the factors of success are defined as follows:
Number of square metres per one
million passengers. This suggests a
specifically planned area for nonaviation supply, which is regarded
as benchmark and therefore as
the best possible way for the investigated market.
Quality and quantity of non-aviation

area. This involves dividing these areas

into aviation and non-aviation subdivisions regarding percentage. Depending
on the type of airport and passenger
structure, both qualitative and quantitative determinants can vary strongly.
Merchandise mix displays an interaction between branches, products
and special offers, which border on
each other.
Variation in offer and continuous
adjustment for every target group
creates a challenge for every airport
retail manager.
Concept of guidance is crucial for the
development of income per passenger
in the aviation industry.
Fast and optimised passenger handling is closely connected to large
investments in latest technology.
Operators model is based on decisions by the airports management
and proves to be essential for the development of non-aviation businesses.
Retail theatre involves social media,
e-commerce and m-commerce, digitisation, and sharing the airports worlds
of entertainment with stakeholders.
Developing Airport City is identified
as a special element at airports. While
expanding areas for airport cities the
location becomes increasingly significant, creating an attractive spot for
various companies and hotels.
Creating the terminal concept first
and foremost involves terminal layout
and architectonical design.
www.DFNIonline.com

EDITORIAL INSIGHT
Local colour displays the products
of various regions in which airports
are located.
Fair prices for secondary consumers
is a principle primarily based on the
concept of reasonable prices, especially in respect to gastronomy for
employees, residents, visitors and
carriers. In addition to gaining a
higher income and expanding nonaviation businesses, improving the
airports image is another important
part. As a result, offers are not perceived to be over-priced compared
with the equivalent offer downtown.
Eventisation is particularly important
for airports that feature large nonaviation areas that enable the
organisation of events without damaging the commercial premises.
Market research and questioning
consumers is identified as an ongoing
process that primarily takes into consideration the future wishes of passengers
when it comes to non-aviation offers.
Cooperating with airlines covers the
active exchange of data between relevant stakeholders, the outcome of
which ought both to support common
goals and simplify communication.
Price strategy/price distinction
involves major strategic decisions on
the part of the management in order
to achieve price identification for
every target group and thus present
non-aviation offers as affordable

Maximising sales per passenger

The main goal: Maximize sales per passenger
Basic requirement: Passenger volume & passenger mix
Market research & customer survey
Quality & quantity of non-aviation-area
Friendly staff
Rapidness of staff
Professionalism

Welcoming atmosphere
& comfort

Optimal architecture of
non-aviation-area

Short ways
Little change of levels
Extension of area
Areal productivity

Optimum of square metres

per one million passengers

Unique merchandize mix

Customer satisfaction

Staff training

Price strategy
and competitive
capabilities

Product knowledge

Know your customers & speak to them

Customer awareness
Advertising &
social media
Boost the
product image

Customer services

Source: Dornier Consulting

compared with downtown stores.

Quality of dwell time and atmosphere of comfort deals with a
stress-free environment for the passenger during the time he or she spends at
the airport. This includes areas where
passengers can simply linger and those
with a variety of non-aviation offers.
Consideration of trends and new
regulations is crucial when producing
business plans and adjusting nonaviation portfolios.
Business development indicates new
subdivisions that should be developed in addition to the areas that
already exist.

Passenger volume and mixture

involves predicted passenger growth
as well as the constitution of passenger structure.
The table on page 8 divides factors
of success into three categories according to ranking provided by experts.
A number of factors of success identified in the studynotably quality and
quantity of non-aviation areas, merchandise mix, market research and
questioning costumers, as well as passenger volume and passenger mixture,
have become the foundation for any
strategic decision and future development of non-aviation businesses.

Actions
Promotions
Special offers
Use of economies
of scope
Presentation of
trends

Finally, the table above displays

the interrelation between identified
essential factors of success that result
from investigating non-aviation areas.
Hereby, the maximisation of income
per passenger is seen as a superior
goal, and thus this papers results present the airports management with
the necessary tools to realise strategic
goals. The identified factors of success,
as listed in the must-have category
could ultimately increase an airports
core competitiveness.
n
Dornier Consulting business development consultant Kateryna Hess,
kateryna.hess@dornier-consulting.com

Editorial
Bill Lumley
bill.lumley@dfnionline.com

Contents
News
Insight
Product news
Exchange rates report
China report
Western Europe report
Airlines report
Duty-free legends
Launch pad
People & company news
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8-9
10-19
21-23
25-26
29-33
31-37
41-43
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February 2013 Duty-Free News International 9