In a country where virtually everything has changed over the past 20 years, the two-decade long success story that is Lenrianta is remarkable. The joint venture between Aer Rianta International and Pulkovo Airport Authority was formed in 1989, the second of ARI’s Russian JVs after Aerofirst/Moscow Duty Free. At the time, duty free was a
Miscellaneous
Marrying time and craft in a great Glenfiddich
As the last notes from the pipe band drifted into the cool evening air, a hush of anticipation fell over the 50 guests at Tuesday night’s unveiling of Glenfiddich 50 Year Old Single Malt. William Grant & Sons Chairman Peter Gordon – great-great-grandson of William Grant – produced a silver key from his pocket and
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Miscellaneous
Deadline dash in Istanbul
The Moodie Report has visited many airport construction sites in our travels, but scarcely one where the pressure to meet the opening deadline was so heavy with meaning as that at Sabiha Gokcen International (SGIA), Istanbul’s second airport. There are now less than four months until the 29 October opening of the new airport terminal.
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Miscellaneous
Injecting fun into the travel retail experience
We like to champion new concepts that add fun, creativity and vitality to the travel experience – and we’ve found one in ATU Duty Free’s new Toys Tunnel at Istanbul Ataturk International Airport (which The Moodie Report is visiting this week). The retailer – a joint venture between TAV Airports and Unifree, in which Gebr
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Airports
Dazzling with the destination offer
One of the glaring deficiencies in many airport retail offers is the lack of attention given to destination products – creating a strong Sense of Place not only in design but also in how the shelves are stocked helps, we believe, deliver a point of difference, one that consumers are more likely to respond to.
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Miscellaneous
Security still the greatest barrier
If anyone doubts the devastating impact of slow, stringent security on footfall and penetration in our channel, take a look at the picture below. It’s the scene at Brussels International Airport last Saturday, 6 June, at around 9am. The passengers you see in the foreground are still around 10-15 minutes from reaching the security point,
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Miscellaneous
Exposing a leaky Danish defence
Last week’s Nordic Travel Retail Seminar in Copenhagen was another solid regional conference with plenty of strong content from across the industry. But the biggest talking point was probably the contribution of Marianne Jelved (above), who will forever be remembered as Denmark’s Economics Minister when her country struck the fatal blow that consigned intra-EU duty
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Miscellaneous
Bollywood bursts into Mumbai
There’s a lot to admire about the gradual re-shaping of commercial operations at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, a project I saw first-hand on Tuesday night as I came through the international terminal before boarding a flight to London. DFS India – a partnership with Flemingo – is making real progress in transforming the key duty free facilities
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Miscellaneous
Jameson rolls out the green carpet
Of all the brands in the Irish Distillers stable, Jameson has always had the most recognisable ‘international’ voice. That’s no accident: when Irish Distillers was created in 1966 to band together the remaining products in a badly faltering Irish whiskey industry, Jameson was carefully positioned to appeal to the overseas consumer, with Paddy and Power’s more often the choice of
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Airports
Championing new concepts in Brussels
If your travels take you through Brussels Airport in the near future, and specifically the Pier A Schengen departures zone, then make sure you seek out what we think are two of the best new innovations anywhere in the world of airport retail and F&B. In fact, you won’t need to seek them out, because they
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Miscellaneous
Momentum gathers behind Sheremetyevo’s comeback
A year ago, the idea that Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO) – built as a ‘temporary’ facility for the 1980 Moscow Olympics – could ever re-establish itself as Moscow’s leading aviation hub would have seemed plain fanciful. Its rivals at Domodedovo and to a lesser extent, Vnukovo, were steadily eroding its traffic base, both had (and have) enviable commercial facilities
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Airlines
Flying lessons
If you’re visiting any country and are looking for clues as to what kind of people, place and culture await you, you could do worse than flick through the national airline’s inflight brochure on your journey there. Better still (and yes, here’s a publisher talking) go straight to the adverts, and you’ll get a pretty good insight into what is making the
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People
Golfer McDowell proves a banker for Ballantine’s
If Northern Irish golfer Graeme McDowell should ever find himself short of a sponsor – though after his victory on Sunday in the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond, he should have few such worries – he would probably find the doors at Chivas Bros flung open to welcome him. Sunday’s triumph, ahead of a top-class field including