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WELCOME to The Moodie Report 7.

It’s good to be with you again after a short break over the New Year period. We face2009 reinvigorated and determined to succeed in what will be among the mostdemanding years our sector has faced.

This edition comes to you from Dubai where Dubai Duty Free tonight celebrates its25th anniversary at a gala dinner. I arrived at the new Emirates Terminal 3 at DubaiInternational Airport early today, having flown for the first time on an (Emirates)A380. What a wondrous experience – to travel on that giant aircraft is to rediscover theexhilaration of flight.

Emirates has also put a phenomenal amount of creative thinking into the customerexperience, from the inflight entertainment system to a great duty free range and afantastic onboard lounge. For perhaps the first time ever I was sad a flight had ended.To then encounter the stunning silver and white columned coliseum that is T3 just putthe icing on an early 2009 travelling cake.

Such perceptions of the travel experience matter. The new year is just eight days oldbut I have flown through four airports already – Lanzarote Arrecife, Luton, HeathrowT3 and Dubai International. Only the latter was a pleasant experience and I was struckby how many barriers airports place in the way of their own retail operations.

When I flew out of Luton on 27 December (one of the airport’s busiest days) only two security lanes (out of five) were manned. The queues were depressingly long, theatmosphere that of a Cold War military barracks and the contrast with the bright,post-security commercial environment profound. I had intended to visit the attractiveAelia duty free store as well as take a meal with my family. I could only do the latter. Icannot imagine that Aelia and other Luton concessionaires were any more impressed than I was.

Arrecife suffered similarly, though in its case from horrendous check-in rather thansecurity queues, while Heathrow T3’s secondary security check is a clumsy and ugly bloton a modern air terminal. 2009 is a year when all industry stakeholders must maximisetheir efforts to improve penetration. But if you don’t get the footfall in the first place,you won’t stand a chance.

As tonight sees the Gala Din-ner to celebrate Dubai DutyFree’s 25th anniversary, whatmore appropriate image forthis week’s report than thisphotograph taken on theanniversary day itself – 20December 2008. Here Manag-ing Director Colm McLoughlinand Deputy Managing DirectorGeorge Horan cut a giantcelebratory cake, surroundedby excited staff representing amelting pot of nationalities.

FRIDAYSATURDAYSUNDAYMONDAYTUESDAYWEDNESDAYTHURSDAY 8 JANUARY 2009The Week in Travel Retail

REACH, RELIABILITY, RESPECT

©The Moodie Report 7 is published by Moodie International. All rights reserved.Please send any comments or stories to [email protected]

Image of the Week

“Wehavereceivedthe HighCourtjudge-mentand arelooking at the legal options.” ABangalore International Air-port Limited spokesman reactscautiously to receipt of a HighCourt judgement that overrulesthe duty free contract award toThe Nuance Group (with Shop-pers’ Stop), calls for a new ten-der within 45 days and throwsIndian travel retail again into flux.

“This exciting venture will enableus to capitalise onthe ever-growingLatin Americanmarket for provenUS brands.” LeonFalic, President ofNew Brands, asubsidiary of DutyFree Americas owner The FalicGroup, celebrates a joint-venturedeal with US-based Iconix BrandGroup to distribute the latter’sbrands in Latin America.

“In August 2008 we thought thatpassenger numbers woulddecrease by another -1% in2009. However, asthe global financialcrisis deepened inthe final months of2008 we have hadto reassess ourbusiness strategy.”Sombre wordsfrom Schiphol Group PresidentJos Nijhuis as the Dutch air-ports group assesses deteriorat-ing conditions in what is set to bea tough year for the aviationsector.

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

INTERNATIONAL. Global air traffic experienced a major setback in November 2008, according to new fig-ures released by Airports Council International (ACI) this week. Total passenger numbers during the month werearound -7.8% lower than in November 2007 and about -2% lower than in November 2006. The figures are based on165 key airports that participate in ACI’s monthly advance reporting system.

International traffic, previously the driverof robust growth during the first half of2008, decreased in November by -5.8%year-on-year. Worldwide domestic trafficdropped by -8.5% for the month. Drivenby countries in North Africa and aroundthe Gulf States as well as Lebanon, onlythe Middle East (+8%) and Africa (+5%)regions recorded solid growth in interna-tional traffic for the month, compared tonotable drops in Europe (-6%), NorthAmerica (-4%) and Asia Pacific (-11%).

Asia Pacific’s +2% growth for domestictraffic, due to growth in China, wasoffset by stark declines in Europe (-15%)and North America (-12%).

ACI noted: “The countries worst hit by the fallout of battered economies are the US, South Korea, Japan and the UK.Results from Thailand and India were further impacted by political protests and closure of the airport in Bangkok, and the

terror attacks in Mumbai in late November. Spain saw domestictraffic declining further, partly because of competition with new highspeed train connections, and Italian airports suffered from the uncer-tain future of Alitalia. South African airports registered double-digitdeclines in domestic traffic and fewer international passengers.”

The year-to-date figure for total passengers is down -0.3% acrossthe ACI member-ship, thoughinternationaltraffic is up by+2.1% for the

first 11 months against a -2.0% decline for domestic passengers. Forinternational traffic, the strongest year-to-date performances havecome from the Middle East (+12.6%) and Africa (+10.9%), with a solidperformance too from Latin America and the Caribbean (+5.5%).

Thursday 8 January 2009The Moodie Report 7


Moodie Interactive: Click on the image above

THE MOODIE REPORT 7 WEEKLY ANALYSIS

ACI worldwide airport traffic summaryNovember 2008

Nov ’08 YTD Rolling 12vs Nov ’07 ’08 vs ’07 months

Source: Airports Council International

International pax –5.8% +2.1% +2.5%Domestic pax –8.5% –2.0% –1.8%Total pax –7.8% –0.3% +0.1%

International airport traffic by region November 2008

ACI November 2008 Jan–Nov 2008region International Change International Change

pax (’000) on 2007 pax (’000) on 2007

Africa 4,559 +4.7% 50,491 +10.9%Asia Pacific 23,671 –10.6% 284,562 –1.1%Europe 47,876 –6.4% 670,629 +1.5%Lat. Am. & Carib. 3,988 –2.6% 48,432 +5.5%Middle East 6,686 +8.9% 77,276 +12.6%North America 10,906 –4.4% 141,367 +2.7%ACI total 97,686 –5.8% 1,272,757 +2.1%

Source: Airports Council International

http://www.coty.com



HONG KONG. DFS Group has underlined its confidence in the future of Hong Kong’s travel retail sector byunveiling plans to expand its retail space at DFS Galleria Sun Plaza by 35,000sq ft over the next two years, takingthe location to 120,000sq ft. It also wants to open a third Galleria in Hong Kong in addition to Sun Plaza and Chi-nachem. DFS Chairman and CEO Ed Brennan told The Moodie Report: “DFS remains committed to its expansionplans in Asia despite the current challenging economic challenges.

“Our Galleria platform is the priority for our growth. Canton Road in Hong Kong remains the number one locationfor tourists and we have been working closely with our partner SHK to expand this location for the past few years.This year we completed the expansion of our Chinachem Galleria and the results have been exceptional. We believeHong Kong will continue its strong appeal for international tourists in the next five to ten years and hope to secure athird Galleria location in the future.”

DFS Group President, Worldwide Store Operations Michael Schriver told The Moodie Report: “It’s still too earlyin the planning stages to describe detailed plans for this additional 35,000sq ft but the focus in the new space will bewatches, jewellery and a new Platinum Services Club Lounge.”

He continued: “The additional space will give us a chance to rearrange and expand other presentations, includingbeauty, and expanding fashion and other brands.” Underscoring the importance of the investment, Schriverdescribed DFS Galleria Sun Plaza as the retailer’s “most productive store”.

INDIA. Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) is reviewing its next move after receiving the HighCourt Judgement overruling the award of the airport company’s dutyfree contract to a partnership between The Nuance Group and Shop-pers’ Stop. As revealed by The Moodie Report last month, the HighCourt of Karnataka allowed a writ petition filed by M/S FlemingoDuty Free Shops Pvt Ltd (Flemingo) against BIAL, which operatesthe new Bengaluru International Airport.

Flemingo had challenged its exclusion from the tender to run dutyfree shops at the airport, which opened in May 2008. The court ruledon 19 December that the award should be set aside (along with theoriginal short-listing of five parties – Nuance, Gebr Heinemann,Dufry, DFS and Alpha) and BIAL was directed to re-issue fresh ten-der documents within 45 days of receipt of the order.

The court noted: “Issuing [the] tender to the 5th respondent [TheNuance Group -Ed]... is not only arbitrary exercise of power byBIAL but also lacks transparency.” At the time of the announcement– which mirrored a similar judgement in Mumbai in June – BIALsaid it could not comment until it received a copy of the full ruling.

The airport company – and The Moodie Report – now have that 113-page judgement and a BIAL spokesman told us: “BIAL is a publiclimited company with both private and public promoters having a stakein it. The tender process for the selection of the duty free partner


Note: The economic impact of the current economic crisis on the airport industry will be a central topic at ACI’s firstAirport Economics and Finance Conference in London on 10-11 February. Registration for the conference is availableon the ACI website (www.aci.aero).

ACI is also a partner – with The Moodie Report – in the annual ACI Airport Business & Trinity Forum. The 2009event will take place on 23–25 September in Macau. Popularly known as The Trinity Forum, the event is the world’sleading airport commercial revenues conference. It is being hosted by CAM – Macau International Airport CompanyLimited. An exciting programme is currently being developed. For programme and sponsorship details please contactACI’s Andreas Schimm at [email protected] or The Moodie Report’s Martin Moodie [email protected]

THE MOODIE REPORT 7 MAIN NEWS

http://www.omegawatches.com



was done based on the proposal received pursuant to the RFP (Request For Proposal). We have received the HighCourt judgment and are looking at the legal options.”

A spokesperson for The Nuance Group told The Moodie Report: “The Nuance Group and Shoppers’ Stop aredoing everything we can to protect our interests in Bangalore at the moment.”

The case throws up a hornets’ nest in legal, commercial and private sector investment terms. In both Bangalore andMumbai, Flemingo successfully argued that the airport company, though largely in private hands, was a branch ofthe state (Airports Authority of India is a stakeholder) and therefore bound by certain procedural obligations. Theseshould have allowed Flemingo to participate in the tender, it ruled. The Mumbai precedent was effectively set aside(but, crucially, not resolved) when Flemingo entered into a joint venture with the incumbent, DFS India.

BIAL, like MIAL, had contended that it is a private company and could not be subject to such jurisdiction. But theKarnataka High Court held that BIAL is ‘State’ within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution of India. Withtime ticking by, it would appear likely that BIAL will seek a stay of execution (as happened in Mumbai). It may thenappeal the judgement to the Supreme Court.

It’s a deeply complex scenario, with huge ramifications not just for the players involved but for ‘private investment’in India. An unexpected solution was found in Mumbai. Given the unpredictability of events in Indian duty free, oneshould not count out the prospect of something similar happening again.

US/LATIN AMERICA. New Brands Americas, a division of The Falic Group, has struck a joint-venturedeal with US-based Iconix Brand Group to distribute the latter’s brands in Latin America. The Falic Group operatesDuty Free Americas, the largest duty free retailer in the Americas.

The joint venture company, Iconix Latin America, will distribute the 16-strong Iconix portfolio of brands in Mexico,Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. In exchange for US$6 million plus other commitments, NewBrands received a 50% interest in the joint venture, which will also have an option to purchase rights to futurebrands acquired by Iconix.

New Brands President Leon Falic said: “This exciting venture will enable us to capitalise on the ever growing LatinAmerican market for proven US brands. Because of recent demographic changes in Latin America, we feel that this aunique opportunity to bring the Iconix brands to a thriving new group of consumers there.”

Iconix Chairman and CEO Neil Cole said: “The Falic brothers have extensive expertise and contacts in the LatinAmerican market. Having locally based partners with knowledge ofthe different cultures and markets that comprise this region will sig-nificantly accelerate the growth of our brands throughout this terri-tory and help us maximise revenue from our existing licensing base inLatin America.”

THE MOODIE REPORT 7

TENDER & CONTRACT NEWS


FRANCE. Vinci Airports and its partner Keolis have secured thecontract to manage Quimper Cornouaille Airport in Brittany. Thedeal runs for six years and ten months from 1 March 2009. It coversthe management of the commercial operations as well as the terminal,runways and equipment.

The airport’s key business includes daily return flights to Paris-OrlyWest and seasonal tourist flights, in particular to Corsica. It handlesaround 250,000 passengers a year.

SINGAPORE. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore hascalled two key tenders at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1. Thefirst is for the Chocolate/Candy/Delicatessen concession at Departure/

http://www.clinique.com



UAE. Dubai Duty Free has announced annual sales in 2008 of AED3.950 billion (just under US$1.1 billion), repre-senting a +23% increase over 2007.

“This anniversary year has been a remarkable one for Dubai Duty Free,” said H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum,President of Dubai Department of Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman of Dubai Airports. “Breaking the US$1 billionsales milestone in December has been a great achievement and I congratulate the team at Dubai Duty Free for setting anew retailing benchmark and for firmly establishing its position as one of the top duty free operations in the world.”

December was a record month with sales reaching a new monthly high of AED403 million (US$111 million) while onthe anniversary day itself (20 December) all former daily records were broken as sales soared to AED71 million (US$20million). The milestone figure of US$1 billion was crossed on 17 December.

Commenting on an extraordinary end to the year, Dubai Duty Free Managing Director Colm McLoughlin said: “Cross-ing the US$1 billion was a great achievement and my thanks go to all who have helped up achieve this great milestone.Also, on the anniversary day itself, our sales in that one day were the equivalent of our first full year of operation (1984).”

In 2008 Dubai Duty Free recorded a total over 21 million sales transactions, which averages at around 58,000 transac-tions per day, up +11% on 2007. Perfumes continued to be the highest-selling category with annual revenues toppingAED560 million (US$155 million), which represents 14% of total sales. Liquor retained its number two position withsales of AED517 million (US$144 million) and gold came next with AED448 million (US$125 million).

In addition to remarkable sales, 2008 provided Dubai Duty Free withmajor milestones in terms of growth and expansion. In the summer, theoperation opened its purpose-built Head Office and Distribution Cen-tre in Ramoul, which provides 6,000sq m of office space and 27,000sqm of warehousing. The opening of Terminal 3 in October provided anextra 8,000sq m of retail space for Dubai Duty Free, which also oper-ates 7,000sq m across Terminals 1 and 2.

For the full story, and an on location report from Dubai Duty Free’srecord-breaking anniversary day, go to www.TheMoodieReport.com

THE MOODIE REPORT 7

TRAVEL & TOURISM NEWS

Transit Lounge East, where bids close on 4 February. The contract is for an initial three years and runs from 11 June2009. Dufry currently operates the major airside confectionery concession at Changi T1, under the Sweet Treats name.

Two recent confectionery tenders at Changi T2 attracted a strong field despite concerns over traffic levels and, amongsome concessionaires, spends at the airport. Bidders included Dufry, Nuance-Watson (Singapore), King Power Interna-tional, Heinemann Duty Free, Lagardère Services Asia Pacific with Aelia, and Focus Network Agencies. Dufry led thebidding for both contracts with aggressive minimum guarantee offers.

The other T1 contract called this week is for a Toys/Games/Children’s Gifts/Creative Learning Shop concession, alsoin Departure/Transit Lounge East. The contract runs for three years from 11 June. Bids are due by 4 February.


THE MOODIE REPORT 7 RETAIL & COMMERCIAL SALES RESULTS

INTERNATIONAL. Tourism arrivals to Asia Pacific grew byjust +3% year-on-year in the first ten months, the latest figures fromthe UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) show. The +3%rise compares to +10.5% growth in tourism in Asia Pacific for the fullyear of 2007, compared to 2006.

The slowdown accelerated in the period from August onwards, followingcuts in airline capacity and increasing transport costs due to fuel hikes.

http://www.mars-itr.com



The findings emerged at the second UNWTO Conference on Tourism Trends and Outlook, held in December inGuilin, China.

UNWTO said: “All world regions have followed broadly similar slowdown patterns and Asia and the Pacific has beenno exception with extreme weather, security and political shifts in major markets compounding the situation. Theimpact on receipts is expected to be even more significant as travellers trim down their length of stay and their con-sumption in terms of type of accommodation and other activities.

“In the shorter term, overall prospects – against continuing downward revisions in macro-economic expectations andprimary generating markets in recession – look quite gloomy. But tourism is more and more emerging as a strongpotential contributor to economic recovery. An excellent example is China’s current plan to stimulate its 1.6 billiondomestic travel market as one of the government’s measures to stimulate economic growth.”

JAPAN. November proved to be the worst month of 2008 to date for Japanese outbound travel with overseas trafficdeclining by -14.1% year-on-year, according to Travel Journal International (TJI) Online*. TJI Online Editor Adrian(Edo) Mangiboyat noted: “With the financial crisis worldwide worsening, market indicators suggest overseas travel willcontinue to fall off during the next three months of 2009. The travel industry predicts the worst is yet to come.”

TJI cited preliminary figures compiled by the Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO), which showed the provi-sional count of Japanese heading overseas during the month as 1,247,000 – well below the 1,451,116 recorded inNovember 2007.

The decline for the month was the biggest monthly fall in 2008 (though December’s results are yet to be unveiled),exceeding the -11.9% drop seen in August, TJI said. On that earlier occasion many Japanese stayed home due to highfuel surcharges applied by airlines that passed on steep rising costs. The price of jet fuel has since plummeted.

November also represented the gravest decline seen since October 2003 when the SARS scare led to a free fall in trafficthroughout the entire year (-19.5%), TJI said. Assessing prospects, Mangiboyat wrote: “Japanese consumers are reluctantto travel as the country’s flailing economy has prompted concerns for their financial health and employment securityfollowing the financial crisis in the US, which has spread worldwide.”

In related news, the JTB Foundation predicted in December that the number of Japanese travellers heading overseas in2008 will reach some 16 million, down -7.5% from 2007. In the first 11 months of 2008, the tally was 14,694,860, off-7.7% year-on-year.

*Editor’s note: The Moodie Report works closely with TJI Online, the largest English-language travel trade newssource in Japan. Week in, week out, it provides timely and sharp analysis of the all-important Japanese travel market –international and domestic. To subscribe please visit https://tji.tjnet.co.jp. It comes with our highest recommendation.

US (HAWAII). November visitor numbers to Hawaii continued the 2008 pattern of year-on-year declines, withthe key Japanese sector particularly badly affected. The Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourismrevealed that total air visitor expenditures dropped -15.3%, or US$145.2 million, from the same month in 2007, toUS$805.3 million.

The decline was driven by a -15.8% decrease in arrivals by air to 485,544 and lower average daily visitor spending(US$180 per person, down from $186 per person in November 2007). Total arrivals for air and cruise visitors declinedby -15.9% year-on-year. However the average length of stay by these visitors was slightly longer at 9.23 days, comparedto 8.87 days last November.

Among the top four visitor markets, air arrivals from the US West dropped -18% while US East arrivals were down by-14.4% compared to November 2007. Japanese arrivals slumped -20.3%, while arrivals by air from Canada declined by-7.1%. However, those Japanese who did visit Hawaii stayed longer (+4.7% on average), and spent more per day(+12.1%) and per trip (17.4%).

“Hawaii and many other visitor destinations worldwide continue to be severely impacted by the current national andglobal economic conditions,” said State Tourism Liaison Marsha Wienert.

For the first 11 months of 2008 total arrivals by air and cruise decreased by -10.2% year-on-year to 6,243,080. Japanesevisitor numbers declined by -10% in that period to 1,061,675.



THE MOODIE REPORT 7 TRAFFIC NEWS

Calling for tenders!Copenhagen Airports A/S (CPH) has decided to tender the contracts covering the indoor and outdoor advertisingconcession at Copenhagen and Roskilde airports. New contracts will begin 1 January 2010.

In 2007, the advertising concession delivered a total turnover of DKK 37.8m (5m Euros).

Copenhagen is the largest airport in Scandinavia with a total of 21.4m passengers in 2007. CPH has experienced aan average annual passenger growth of 2.4 % from 2000 to 2008, which has further improved business opportunitiesfor CPH partners. By heavily investing in airport infrastructure, CPH seeks to continue this development in the future.

By calling for tenders CPH wishes to test the market value for advertising and give room for future development ofthe concession in terms of positioning CPH as an exclusive, high end advertising product.

Companies interested in participating in the tender will be able to download an “Expression of Interest – pre-qualificationdocument” explaining the process in detail on www.cph.dk/CPH/UK/B2B/Tender. Expressions of interest must besubmitted to CPH no later than 3 February 2009.

Airport advertising

MEXICO. Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ASUR), which manages nine airports in the southeast of Mexico, hasposted an encouraging +1% rise in passenger numbers to 1.5 million in December, compared to December 2007. Thegrowth was led by ASUR’s major location, Cancún Airport, which handled 1.08 million passengers, an increase of+6.1% compared to the previous year.

International traffic across ASUR’s portfolio grew by +9.3% in the month to 872,311 passengers. This was also led bygrowth at Cancún – the airport registered a rise of +11.1% in international traffic to 810,842. Domestic passengertraffic across the group fell by -8.6% to 634,853 passengers. For the full year, total passenger numbers rose by +9.3% to17.7 million, while international traffic grew by +6.9% to 10 million.

NETHERLANDS. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol said this week that it expects a “dramatic” drop in passengerand cargo traffic this year. Schiphol Group said it projects the sharp falls to be coupled with an expected -6% to -10%decline in air transport movements.

In 2008 a total of 47.4 million passengers travelled through Amsterdam Airport Schiphol; -0.8% down from 2007. Thenumber of air transport movements dropped by -1.8% to 428,350. Schiphol Group President Jos Nijhuis said theexpected decline in passenger and cargo traffic is a direct result of the global financial crisis. The introduction of theAir Passenger Tax on 1 July 2008 has also contributed to the fall in passenger numbers. Largely as a result of the tax,low cost carriers and various other airlines operated -25% fewer flights at Schiphol in 2008.

“In August we thought that passenger numbers would decrease by another -1% in 2009. However, as the global finan-cial crisis deepened in the final months of 2008 we have had to reassess our business strategy,” Nijhuis said.

“We will need to make adjustments to our budget and scheduled investments for 2009. Just a few months ago we hadanticipated around €470 million in investments for 2009. But of these, several projects to the value of €180 millionhave been postponed at least until 1 April.”



INTERNATIONAL. Ultramarine Partnership, organiser of the third Airline Retail Conference (ARC) to beheld in the UK 20–22 July, has launched a new website for the event. The website www.arc2009.com contains fullinformation on the ARC2009 conference, which will be held at the Grove Hotel, Hertfordshire.

INTERNATIONAL. The Moodie Report.com registered record website traffic in 2008, generating 1,627,147page views – up +47% on 2007 and ahead by +265% on 2004 (the site’s first full operating year). Page views are themost reliable indicator of actual web usage. Each of those 1,627,147 pages has been physically accessed by a web reader.

Overall website visits reached 699,598 in 2008, a +119.9% increase on 2007 levels, with 457,123 unique users visitingthe site – up from 119,310 the previous year, an increase of +283%. Returning users is another area where The MoodieReport.com continues to develop. On a weekly average basis, returning users increased to 2,118 in 2008 up from 1,553the previous year, indicating solid growth of our core readership and continued success in converting new users (thosevisiting the site for the first time ) to regular readers.

In total, readers from 219 countries visited The Moodie Report.com in 2008, led by the UK, US, France, Singapore,Australia, Germany, Canada, India, Spain, Switzerland, Hong Kong and the UAE. At the other end of the scale, thewebsite also welcomed visitors from locations as diverse as Rwanda, Ivory Coast, Palau, Equatorial Guinea and Namibia.

The Moodie Report Publisher Martin Moodie said: “These heartening results confirm our long-held belief that a weband e-mail offer – supported by a lower-frequency, high-quality print product that is accessible online – is the rightmedia strategy for a global industry such as travel retail.

“Collectively The Moodie Report 7 and e-Newsletter, our website and our Digital Print Edition are now clearly theindustry’s most widely-read media. And unlike all our competitors, the whole product portfolio is available free ofcharge. That spells a huge advantage in popularity and penetration for our titles – a key factor in the overwhelmingelectronic and print advertising market share leadership we have established in recent years.”

THE MOODIE REPORT 7 PEOPLE NEWS, JOBS, EVENTS & NOTICES

SOUTH KOREA. Incheon International Airport handled 30 million passengers in 2008, a decline of -4% com-pared with 2007. Most of the traffic was international, said Incheon International Airport Corporation. The airportcompany said that it processed 4.4 million transfer passengers in 2008, adding: “This is a +17% increase from the previ-ous year, showing remarkable growth in difficult times.”

The importance of the growth in transit traffic is that Incheon International Airport Corporation has been makingstrenuous efforts since 2004 to position itself as a major hub in Northeast Asia. “Incheon International Airport Corpo-ration is ready to fulfil customer satisfaction with service excellence in every aspect,” said Incheon International AirportCorporation President & CEO C.W. Lee.

“By making joint promotions with airlines, renovating transfer service facilities, simplifying the transfer process andreducing minimum connect time to 45 minutes, Incheon International Airport Corporation is taking proactive steps tosolidify its position as the world’s best airport and gateway to Northeast Asia.” The corporation told The MoodieReport that it will announce its 2008 duty free and other commercial results in April. In 2007 the airport ranked as thenumber one duty free sales location in the world.

UAE. Etihad Airways, the national airline of Abu Dhabi, has reported an impressive +34% surge in passenger num-bers in 2008, compared to 2007. Figures for the year hit 6,021,931 with the average seat factor rising from 68% to75%. The airline has also taken delivery of nine new aircraft, boosting its fleet to 42.

Etihad launched six new routes in 2008 – Beijing, Minsk, Almaty, Kozhikode, Chennai and Moscow – as well as signinga record order of US$43 billion at the Farnborough International Airshow for up to 205 Airbus and Boeing aircraft.

Etihad CEO James Hogan said: “Despite the impact of the global economic downturn, Etihad performed extremelywell in 2008 and we hit our target of flying more than six million passengers during the year.

“Etihad now has a flight network of 50 global destinations, with an average seat factor of 75%, which is an impressiveachievement in just five years of operations. It is also pleasing to note Etihad’s pivotal role in the growth of Abu Dhabias the emirate becomes a global capital for business and tourism.”


INTERNATIONAL. The Moodie Report has named its People of the Year for 2008 – individuals who webelieve by their deeds, attitudes and behaviour advanced the industry’s cause during the year.

They are King Power International group Chairman Vichai Raksriaksorn, The Estée Lauder Companies President,Travel Retailing Worldwide Olivier Bottrie, Dubai Duty Free Managing Director Colm McLoughlin, The PatrónSpirits Company Chief Operating Officer John McDonnell, Aelia Executive Vice President Commercial and MarketingBéatrice Delorme and DFS Group President, Worldwide Store Operations Michael Schriver.

For full details and comment on our choices, see the year-end edition of The Moodie Report PLUS, out now, andavailable online at www.TheMoodieReport.com

INTERNATIONAL. The Moodie Report has announced the launch of an exciting new addition to its publishingportfolio – a Digital Books operation. The Moodie Report Digital Books is a joint venture with Oratia Media, based in

Auckland, New Zealand.

The new business unit will focus on producing high-quality, value-priced books to celebrateevents in the airport and travel retail sector, including terminal and store openings, corporateanniversaries and events, and product launches.

Oratia Media is the publishing and media services business of Peter Dowling, The MoodieReport’s Special Correspondent for Latin America and Asia Pacific. In addition to his interna-

tional experience as a writer and commentator, with expertise in the brand, retail and aviation sectors, he has extensivebook industry experience to a senior management level.

The Moodie Report Founder Martin Moodie and Peter Dowling will be Co-Publishers of the Digital Books unit.

Further details appear at www.TheMoodieReport.com. For a no-obligation proposal on any special publication yourcompany needs, please contact Peter Dowling at [email protected] or Martin Moodie [email protected]

SWITZERLAND. British American Tobacco (BAT) International has announced a series of top-level manage-ment changes. After 17 years of service with the group in various international roles, Nicolas Maistre, currently Headof Global Accounts for BAT International in Zug, Switzerland, will leave to return to France early this year.

During his time at BAT and Rothmans Maistre has undertaken roles as General Manager in Iran, Levant and East Africa,roles in Yemen, the old Smoking Tobacco & Cigars organisation and two assignments in Global Travel Retail (GTR).

Maistre will be succeeded as Head of Global Accounts & the Global Customer Engagement Unit by José Benikes,currently General Manager Europe GTR in Zug. In addition to his new role, Benikes will also succeed Neil Lovett asManaging Director of BAT International, Zug, effective 1 April.

In his new roles Benikes will report to Rahul Prakash, Head of Group Trade Marketing & Distribution. Separateannouncements will be made with regard to Benikes successor as Head of GTR Europe and Neil Lovett’s next role.

Thank you for your readership and support of The Moodie Report.

Martin Moodie, Founder and Publisher


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