FINLAND. Helsinki Airport will tender retail and food & beverage space for its new West Wing later this year.
Director of Commercial Services Elena Stenholm told The Moodie Davitt Report: “Tenders will take place by Autumn 2017 at the latest. There will be F&B, one satellite duty free unit and some speciality retail units, mostly with a Finnish focus. Plus there will be one lounge. It will include around 1,800sq m of retail, though this is not yet finalised.”
She added: “We will possibly tender some luxury retail in the same package with units to be built later, in 2019.”
The key target audience, said the airport company, is Asian travellers, notably Chinese, Japanese and South Koreans. Stenholm added: “As a Europe-Asia hub we also aim to serve the rising numbers of transfer passengers.”
The West Wing represents €300 million of Finavia’s investment of €900 million at the airport in coming years. The first part of the West Wing to be built is the central plaza, which is scheduled to open in late 2018 and will be used by non-Schengen travellers. It will add 25,000sq m of new passenger and baggage facilities.
Speaking about the West Wing development when work began last September, Helsinki Airport Director Ville Haapasaari said: “The magnificent central plaza will be used by departing and arriving long-haul passengers. Various facilities, such as modern security control, shops, restaurants and new services, will be located around the plaza.”
Haapasaari pledged that the central plaza would be “an architecturally impressive space”. Decorated with Finnish wood, its “rugged wall and ceiling structures will set an imposing stage for events,” he noted.
“We want to not only provide our passengers with a smooth, pleasant and straightforward customer experience, but also to create experiences. Our aim is to establish a setting for an unforgettable and significant travel experience that lives long in the memory and strengthens the Helsinki Airport brand,” Haapasaari explained.
Helsinki Airport’s terminal expansion plan includes the West Wing, to be fully completed by 2020, and the South Wing, which will open in summer 2017. The projects aim to upgrade facilities as the airport targets 20 million passengers by 2020.
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