27 December 2014
Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) has said it could take up to one year for the retail environment to stabilise at the klia2 low-cost carrier terminal, which officially opened on June 26 following a soft-opening the previous month.
klia2 hosts 10 low-cost carriers including AirAsia, Cebu Pacific Air, Malindo Air and Tigerair. Local retailers such as MAHB subsidiary Eraman Malaysia, the Valiram Group and DFZ Group are complemented by global operators LS Travel Retail and Heinemann Asia Pacific.
MAHB senior general manager commercial services division Puan Faizah Khairuddin told DFNI: “When you open a new airport, completely renovate a terminal or open new outlets it normally takes at least a year for the environment to stabilise before you can meet the premium value. This is the stage we are at.”
Retailers are now adjusting to the passenger flow and behaviour of customers in a bid to drive sales, indicated Faizah. “When we were planning and tendering for these outlets, it was right from the drawing board. Only now are we seeing actual flow and behaviour.”
Performance, however, is gradually improving at klia2 despite being at 80% retail occupancy. She said: “We are watching the numbers closely and know they are improving. We are hoping to be at 100% occupancy by the first quarter of 2015.
“As you know, there were some operators which delayed opening and only began trading in July, August and September. For some of these outlets it is a workin progress, but we hope they will develop quickly.”
Original Source: www.dfnionline.com
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