Abu Dhabi Airports Company prepares to outsource key food & beverage concessions in T1 and T2 – 03/11/09
Source: ©The Moodie Report
By Dermot Davitt
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Abu Dhabi Airports Company is to outsource food & beverage operations across Abu Dhabi Airport T1 and T2
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UAE. Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) is to issue a Request for Proposals for the key food & beverage concessions at Abu Dhabi International Airport Terminals 1 and 2. The airports group operates most of the business in these terminals in-house. At T3, which opened in February, the company outsourced F&B operations to SSP.
The move coincides with plans to redevelop T1, work that should be completed by October next year.
ADAC Vice President of Commercial Revenues Dan Cappell told The Moodie Report: “In T1, with the exception of Starbucks landside and Costa Coffee airside, we manage the business in-house; but that will change. We will issue an RFP for a concessionaire to operate in T1 and T2.
“There is a different consumer profile in all three terminals so the type of offer will differ substantially from that operated by SSP in T3. Terminal 2 is geared towards the sub-continent consumer while T1 houses a diverse mix, so the concessionaire will need to cater to Middle Eastern, sub-continent and to western tastes. We have worked hard to identify the right locations for F&B in the soon-to-be-revamped T1.”
The concessionaire will have to strike a sound balance between local and international flavours, added Cappell.
“We’re trying wherever possible to work around the term ‘think global, act local’ where we have strong branded offers but with a local colour,” he noted. “There are some very good F&B operators in the Middle East and especially in the UAE, and they will be invited to participate. But we have to make sure that from a consumer perspective and from a financial perspective that we achieve a balance and get the right offer.”
Completing the T1 development on time next year will be critical, he said. “Formula 1 returns to Abu Dhabi in early October next year, so that is an important date,” said Cappell. “Plus we are still forecasting +11% growth in traffic for the year ahead – which will add to the strain on capacity – and remodelling T1 will be a lot harder than T3 as it’s a live environment, so we have to minimise the disruption while fast-tracking the refurbishment.”
*Note: A full report on Abu Dhabi Airports Company’s commercial activities will appear in the MEDFA Guide, published by The Moodie Report to coincide with the Middle East Duty Free Conference in Dubai on 23/24 November.
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