Creating a village feel: Bavarian charm to boost business at Munich Airport

GERMANY. Munich Airport’s MyDutyFree retail concept, which recreates the ambience of the city with a strong Bavarian theme, is currently being rolled out to Terminals 1 and 2.

The move follows the successful debut of the concept, operated by Eurotrade, in the satellite terminal at Terminal 2 in April 2016.

Eurotrade, Duty Free Shop, Terminal 2, Satellit,
Munich Airport’s MyDutyFree concept is currently being rolled out to Terminals 1 and 2

“We are excited to be extending the MyDutyFree concept with its regional Bavarian theme across the other duty free shops in Terminal 1 and Terminal 2,” said Eurotrade Flughafen München Handels Managing Director Sven Zahn.

“Just like in the satellite terminal, the MyDutyFree area will be designed to appear like a traditional Bavarian marketplace, with classic street signs and bronze statues of famous personalities from Munich. There will be a number of shopping squares with junctions so the space has a village feel.”

Sven Zahn
Eurotrade Managing Director Sven Zahn: “There will be a number of shopping squares with junctions so the space has a village feel”

A number of local brands and products are featured alongside the regular portfolio of luxury brands, as well as Eurotrade’s own in-house travel retail exclusive label Airport Exclusive.

“We are not standing still – we seek to be innovative and we want people to feel as if they are shopping downtown,” said Munich Airport Director International Media Relations Corinna Born. “Food & beverage outlets will be peppered among the shops in order to add to the authentic ambiance.”

Corinna Born
Munich Airport’s Corinna Born: “We are not standing still – we seek to be innovative”

There is also a new Alpine-themed restaurant – Sportalm – that opened landside in Terminal 2 in March. The 800sq m venue is reminiscent of a traditional Bavarian farmhouse, with a gondola from a real ski lift providing seating and live sporting action on the big screens. An upper floor to the restaurant with a sun terrace and lounge chairs opened in earlier in April.

Sportalm
Alpine-themed restaurant Sportalm opened landside in Terminal 2 in March

“We offer excellent shopping at downtown prices and people think of the airport as an extension of the city and an attraction in its own right,” said Born.

From the Visitors Park to the Observation Deck and the Kinderland children’s play area, the airport aims to elevate the offer by entertaining both travellers and locals who come to attend events, watch live acts on stage and discover more about aviation.

“We want our guests to feel relaxed and create an environment that is conducive to shopping,” explained Born.

Sportalm_cable car
Sportalm features a gondola from a real ski lift as a seating area

Landing the lion’s share of traffic

The airport, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary on 17 May, handled a record 42.3 million passengers in 2016, a +3% year-on-year increase.

The hub was recently awarded the title of Best Airport in Europe 2017 for the tenth time in 12 years by London-based Skytrax Institute.

Looking at future growth opportunities, the airport considers the Middle East as an important market. It is the fastest growing inbound market for Germany in the world, according to the German National Tourism Board, with annual visitor numbers forecast to grow by more than +200% to 3.6 million by 2030.

Travellers from the GCC are increasingly choosing Munich as their preferred destination in the country, with more than 591,000 overnight stays recorded in 2015 and an average length of stay of 12 days. Dubai is the airport’s busiest intercontinental route with over 740,000 passengers flying between the two cities in 2016.

“Our new summer timetable offers 250,000 flights to 238 destinations in 68 countries, while Munich Airport welcomes 78 weekly flights from major Middle East cities, with Emirates alone flying three times a day between Dubai and Munich,” said Born.

The airport’s increasing number of culturally sensitive facilities are helping its customers from the region to feel welcome. “We have a mosque, prayer rooms, a VIP room in Terminal 1 where most of the flights depart from, and we also operate an Arabic meet and greet service,” said Born.

There is also a separate VipWing that anyone can book, which provides a private limousine to and from the aircraft, sleeping facilities and multilingual staff on hand to assist.

“We will never be the biggest airport in the world but we are very focused on giving a premium service,” explained Born.

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