BAA retail income in the UK up by 4% in 2007

Nicole Mezzasalma

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The airport authority’s net retail income at UK airports for the year ended December 31 2007 was £490m ($991m)

UK airport authority BAA has announced that net retail income at UK airports for the year ended December 31 2007 grew 4% to £490m ($991m) compared with the previous corresponding period. The figure—which excludes sales or income from World Duty Free—includes £74m ($149.7m) from airside specialist shops and £48m ($97.1m) from landside stores and bookshops. BAA registered total retail revenues at UK airports of £656m ($1.32bn), an increase of 4.4% compared with 2006.

Net income per UK passenger rose 2.3% to £3.27 ($6.61) from £3.20 ($6.47) in 2006. According to BAA, this increase occurred “in spite of a difficult airport operational environment and weak retail performance on the high street”, with landside retail particularly affected by changes to security rules. In Naples, BAA’s net retail income was up by 20.9% to £11m ($22.2m), while income per passenger grew 6.7% to £1.90 ($3.84).

A company statement said: “Overall, performance reflected the success of our customer-led strategy with products and services tailored to meet the needs of the passenger mix in each terminal. The group’s dynamic approach to managing retail space ensures that the offer remains flexible and relevant and enables us to respond to the turbulence the group has experiences oer the past year.”