From the Chairman

That commitment has been long-standing. Right from the time I launched what was then The Moodie Report in September 2002, we were the only international B2B media to focus on all airport commercial services and revenue streams.

Whereas our rivals concentrated solely on duty free retail – figuring, perhaps understandably, that’s where the advertising spoils lay – we chose to cover the entire airport commercial ecosystem, from food & beverage to airport advertising and everything in between.

In January 2011 we underlined our belief that the time was right to give the burgeoning airport food & beverage sector its own dedicated global event. The Airport Food & Beverage Conference & Awards, quickly dubbed FAB, was born.

Despite a tricky start – the heating breaking down at the Manchester Airport conference venue in an already desperately cold northern UK winter – FAB has largely flourished since, both reflecting and driving the qualitative revolution that has taken place over the ensuing 13 years.

That is, of course, apart from the pandemic-ravaged 2020-2022 years, which will be forever remembered as a crisis like no other in the aviation, travel and tourism sectors.

In early 2023 we decided the industry’s recovery was sufficiently robust to bring FAB back (as the 2023 Airport FAB + Hospitality Conference & Awards). If we needed further justification, we found it in the intensifying global interest in airport F&B.

Lagardère Travel Retail has led the convergence of channels in recent years, diversifying from its core duty free and specialist retail base when it acquired North American F&B and retail player Paradies in October 2015. It has since extended its F&B presence with further smaller acquisitions such as Dubai-based HWH Hospitality Investments in early 2022 and more recently Tastes on the Fly in the US.

But, of course, the really big play came in 2023 when Dufry, historically a pure-play retailer, and F&B giant Autogrill came together as a new travel retail to dining powerhouse that addresses 2.3 billion passengers in more than 75 countries. That powerhouse – post-FAB – would come to be known as Avolta and its combination of scale, funding and ambition will have a profound impact on airport commerce in the years ahead..

In this issue we present an extensive rundown on FAB 2023 held in Bangkok, Thailand, kindly hosted by Airports of Thailand – all the conference sessions and of course the FAB Awards.

Avolta (formerly Dufry) CEO Xavier Rossinyol outlined his vibrant vision for airport food & beverage during a presentation and subsequent Q&A with me at FAB 2023 in Bangkok