Will Shopping At Abu Dhabi’s New Terminal A Match Its Regional Rivals?

The much-delayed Terminal A at Abu Dhabi International Airport opened to the public mid-week in the United Arab Emirates (UAE
UAE
), with plenty of hype about its potential to boost the city’s position as a global hub for tourism, trade, and business.

Abu Dhabi is the richest of the UAE’s seven emirates due to it having the majority of oil and gas in the country. It is also the capital. But it is overshadowed by the neighboring emirate of Dubai and its airport which is the busiest international gateway in the world and a haven for duty-free shopping. Most of the retail there is operated by Dubai Duty Free with sales of $1.7 billion in 2022.

Dubai International Airport is just over 80 miles north of Abu Dhabi and its swish, wave-roofed Terminal A, one of the largest in the world. Competition will therefore heat up as the new infrastructure (formerly called the Midfield Terminal) significantly boosts the airport’s capacity. New retailing and other passenger services might just lure travelers away from nearby rivals, among them Qatar’s recently expanded Hamad International Airport, another world-class shopping destination, and Sharjah International Airport.

So what will the X-shaped Terminal A—which is triple the size of the previous main terminal—be offering passengers? The operator, Abu Dhabi Airports, did not respond to several requests about its retail proposition. But it has released some information about what it describes as a “shopper’s paradise.”

Once it is fully operational, the shopping space will cover 380,000 square feet with 163 retail and food and beverage (F&B) units to serve its various passenger profiles. At the top end, there will be luxury brands including Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Yves Saint Laurent as well as the more accessible Muji, the Japanese brand’s first airport store anywhere in the world. It will offer unbranded products ranging from luggage and travel essentials to health and beauty items, and fashion.

The core travel retail offer will be run by Lagardère Capital, a joint venture between Lagardère Travel Retail and Abu Dhabi Capital Group.

In a statement, Abu Dhabi Airports said: “Terminal A is a shopping destination designed to amplify a passenger’s travel experience. When it comes to F&B, there is something to accommodate all palates.” Some of the dining arrivals are Jones The Grocer, Taste of India, Starbucks,
SBUX
and the Camden Food Co. More mainstream brands for the family include McDonalds and TGI Fridays.

Todd English comes to town

At the culinary high end, American celebrity chef, Todd English, is opening his first airport restaurant offering cuisines from around the world. His Pub & Market, which includes a bar, has direct views to the planes and the menu goes from sushi and pasta to wok and grill stations serving rotisserie chicken and gourmet steaks, as well as basics like homemade pizza. On the services side, two health and beauty spas will be in operation for travelers wanting to relax and rejuvenate prior to flying.

One important feature of the terminal is that it will be the first in terms of the number of biometric touchpoints. This will start with self-service bag drops, immigration e-gates, and boarding gates.

Once fully operational, passengers will also be screened using facial recognition technology while digitized baggage handling systems will process up to 19,200 bags per hour. All of this is designed to minimize wait times and speed travelers into the departure lounge where they will, in theory, have more time to shop.

On Etihad’s shoulders

Almost 30 airlines are moving to Terminal A by mid-November where the UAE’s official national carrier, Etihad will be the main tenant, with lounges on three floors of the building underlining its rank. Abu Dhabi wants to strengthen its standing as a global aviation hub. That relies on Etihad being able to tell a good marketing story versus its much larger rivals: Qatar Airways in Doha, and Emirates, based at Dubai International.

Terminal A is a key pillar of Etihad’s growth strategy. The building will eventually be capable of handling up to 45 million passengers annually. Before the terminal’s opening, Etihad made a string of expansionist moves, from a strategic code-sharing agreement with Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) to new services to Dusseldorf, Germany; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Osaka, Japan. The airline has also unveiled increased frequencies to popular destinations like Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Colombo, Sri Lanka, plus the resumption of daily flights to Nairobi, Kenya from May 2024.

Currently, the airline boasts more than 70 destinations but is weak in the Americas. By comparison, Qatar Airways flies to more than 160 destinations worldwide while Emirates flies to 144. The big gap means that Abu Dhabi Airport’s retail business is not going to come close to its nearby rivals in terms of revenue, but the offer in the new terminal may be differentiated enough to attract passengers away from other hubs in the region.

Elena Sorlini, managing director and interim CEO at Abu Dhabi Airports, said that Terminal A “will drive the growth of the aviation sector in Abu Dhabi and play an instrumental role in welcoming more businesses and tourists to the emirate for decades to come.”