Schiphol Group to develop commercial activities at Guangzhou

Tina Milton

Schiphol Group has signed an agreement of cooperation with Guangzhou Baiyun International airport in China to develop commercial activities

Schiphol Group has signed an agreement of cooperation with Guangzhou Baiyun International airport in China to develop its commercial activities including the retail and food and beverage facilities.

Schiphol Group chief financial officer Pieter Verboom and Guangzhou airport CEO Liu Zijing signed the agreement. Although the business plan has yet to be finalised, the two companies plan long-term cooperation for commercial, non-aviation activities at Guangzhou.

In 2006, 26.6m passengers used Guangzhou airport, which is one of the three most important airports in China besides Beijing and Shanghai. The airport expects to achieve a substantial increase in passenger numbers in the coming years, and has forecast 40m visitors by 2010 and 60m by 2015. The airport's hub carrier is China Southern Airlines, partner of Air France and KLM.