Heinemann and SSP among winners at Budapest Airport’s concessionaire awards

HUNGARY. Heinemann, SSP and Interchange have won concessionaire awards at Budapest Airport.

The Heinemann Multi-brand Accessories store was victorious in the ‘Retail Concessionaire of the Year – Highest growth in customer transactions’ category in the airport’s 10th Annual Awards Ceremony.

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The winners at the 10th Annual Awards Ceremony, which was hosted in Budapest Airport’s Terminal 1 Event Center

SSP’s O’Leary’s Sports Bar & Restaurant won in the ‘Retail Concessionaire of the Year (F&B) – Highest turnover growth rate’ category.

The airport posted +19.7% growth in overall food & beverage sales in 2016.

The Interchange T2A outlet in Arrivals was named winner in the ‘Retail Concessionaire of the Year – Highest absolute turnover growth’ category.

The airport, which served more than 11 million passengers in 2016, hosted the awards ceremony in order to thank business partners who are playing a “significant role in its aviation and retail development”.

Budapest Airport CEO Jost Lammers said at the ceremony: “We’re enormously proud of last year’s triumphs, we couldn’t achieve these fantastic results without the positive collaboration of so many closely-held partners throughout our airport. It is a great honour to be able to personally acknowledge you all tonight for your extensive involvement in the growth of Budapest Airport.”

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A full list of winners at Budapest Airport’s awards ceremony

Gebr. Heinemann Director Retail Sales Christoph Stump said of his company’s win: “We’ve enjoyed a thriving 18-year partnership with Budapest Airport, last year seeing the opening of our all-encompassing accessory store in the heart of gateway’s shopping experience. We’re overjoyed with our award, and will continue to go all out to build upon our solid foundations at the airport.”

SSP Area Manager Eastern Europe Christos Orthodoxou commented: “Tonight has been a celebration for each and every one of Budapest’s commercial partners, these awards are a great boost as we head into another year, looking for new heights and opportunities together in 2017.”

Interchange CEO Hungary Kirsztian Janvari said: “We have proudly served the foreign exchange  requirements of Budapest Airport’s international passengers since 2007, and last year cemented our great association with the airport following the five-year extension of our contract. Tonight’s award is a wonderful acknowledgment of the strong partnership we enjoy with the airport.”

Budapest Airport noted that 2016 saw the completion of its retail and F&B reconstruction project, which included the upgrading or renewal of almost 50% of the commercial areas in SkyCourt. New openings included Heinemann Duty Free’s multi-branded accessories store, featuring luxury brands such as Longchamp, E. Armani, Thomas Sabo and Montblanc.

The revamp also included Desigual, Swarovski, Tommy Hilfiger and Hugo Boss stores. O’Leary’s Sports Bar and Restaurant and fine food concept Tashba opened on the F&B side.

Budapest Airport plans to fully reconstruct SkyCourt’s duty free perfume and cosmetics areas and renew the non-schengen duty free store by April 2017.

“The year ahead will bring about further commercial offerings including an additional fashion outlet and restaurant, while 40% more retail space will be allocated to existing tenants in Terminal 2B, resulting in forecasted retail growth for 2017 to continue to outperform passenger traffic growth,” the airport said.

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