FAB 2024
Abu Dhabi Airports: View from the top
It’s just over nine months since the opening of Zayed International Airport, one of the world’s great airports in terms of architecture, design, art, digitisation, biometrics and more.
At FAB 2024, Abu Dhabi Airports Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer Elena Sorlini spoke to Martin Moodie about the consumer offer, led by food & beverage and hospitality. We present edited highlights of the on-stage interview.
Zayed International Airport: A spectacular addition to the ranks of world-class Middle East airports; watch out for our special Spotlight eZine on the project in September
Elena, in an interview with me last November not long after the opening of Zayed International Airport you said you wanted to create a passenger experience to match the wonder of the building. How far are you down the road and what have been your greatest challenges to date?
We are quite pleased with what we have achieved. And when I say we I mean all our stakeholders, including our concessionaires who have a big part to play. We have had positive results and positive feedback from our passengers.
Opening an airport is really complex, with so many details you need to take care of. But one big element has been the strong platform for cooperation with all our stakeholders. We are still leveraging this positive cooperation to deliver the passenger experience that we feel obliged to deliver. Partnership is very important as we aim to improve.
We have two big challenges. One is the visibility of the concepts. We have some amazing concepts but not all passengers can easily see what is there.
We have different units doing different results, because there is a clear correlation between the visibility and the results of the units. We need to address that.
We have 8,000sq m of food & beverage and a wide range of concepts that cater to all tastes. Many are unique and bespoke. So now we are working hand in hand with our concessionaires to expose the passengers to that offer.
We went back to the basics of wayfinding and have an amazing app which has been built exactly for that, showing people how far to go to their gate and where they can eat or shop. We have been testing large interactive screens to deliver messaging and help them de-stress.
Even the passengers coming from our catchment area are dealing with something new, so it takes time. Part of the solution is reaching them with campaigns before they come to the airport.
The other challenge is the peakiness of the traffic. With these travel peaks you are diluting the revenues for concessions. So we need to work with the concessionaires but also with the airlines to find a way to ensure that passengers are spending time and money in these beautiful units.
In terms of strategic, long-term thinking, we are engaging now with an agency to rethink the passenger flow, while bearing in mind that operations and getting passengers to their flights on time are paramount.
Abu Dhabi Airports Managing Director and CEO Elena Sorlini and Martin Moodie share a lighter moment as they talk about the company’s pledge to create a great consumer offer at the wondrous new Zayed International Airport
Tell us about the evolution since opening.
One success is the growth we are achieving, already +25% in passenger traffic last year and +36% this year.
With the capacity we now have in place we are unlocking the demand that was there.
We are learning how we can make the most of the space we have. Our passenger profile is constantly changing and different from what we had in the previous terminal. It’s a learning experience, and it requires constant adaptation.
And again, it comes down to how we work as an airport and how we work with our partners. How do we fine-tune the offer on the concessions side to meet the requirement of this evolving situation?
We need to have the right level of service when we have 50% point-to-point passengers and 50% transfer. Those point-to-point travellers have higher dwell time and they spend more money. Transfer passengers rush very quickly to their gate so the offer on the piers becomes extremely important.
We want to work with the airlines to communicate the operational features of the airport and the brands and services that are there. We are talking with Etihad in terms of their loyalty programme and having some earn and burn options in some of our shops.
In video: A dazzling showcase for dining at the new terminal
Sorlini spoke in-depth about the challenges of gaining maximum exposure for concessions with different levels of visibility across the 8,000sq m of F&B space
How do you see the best way forward in terms of growing the pie while enhancing the consumer offer? And what role does food & beverage play in enhancing the reputation of your airport?
We have spoken about the business model and this should be expanded to include the airlines.
We are talking about how digitalisation, biometric automation solution and innovation can help us to deliver a better experience. I think about the power of data, understanding what our passengers want, what they want to see, what they want to find, getting to know them better. And we only own a partial set of information and data. We need to find a way to maximise this information and clearly understand our passengers better.
That’s what we at Zayed International Airport are planning to do.
We have regular meetings with all the operational stakeholders where everyone can express their concerns, look for opportunities and find solutions, and we want to create this with concessionaires too, even if there is competition.
If we are mature enough to park this aspect, then we can figure out solutions that support everyone, including on the retail and the food & beverage side. And this is going to give us a competitive advantage.
Any closing message to the audience and to the industry at large?
I’m a firm believer in partnership. The airport has chosen to go for long-term contracts with our concessionaires, and this creates a different perspective. We are there together and we need to support each other. We need to think strategically together. We must constantly evolve and adapt ourselves. And we can do that only if we all work together.
Elena Sorlini: "Digitalisation, biometric automation solutions and innovation can help us to deliver a better experience"
FAB eZine
August 2024
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