TOP 10 AIRPORTS: HEATHROW


to press, with the latter announcing the closure of eight shops, including its 3,600sq ft Terminal 2 store that opened in 2014. Brown says: “It’s an incredibly tough environment for the retailers and food & beverage operators. They are working very hard individually in the same way we are as an airport on balancing the books and protecting as many jobs as we can, which is incredibly difficult to do.” With travel evaporating across the


global aviation ecosystem, Heathrow has suffered irreparable damage to passenger traffic. In May, volumes plunged 97%,


crystallising the crippling reality of a situation that IATA forecasts will lead to losses of more than $84bn for airlines globally in 2020. Effective 10 July, passengers


returning or visiting England from 59 destinations, including 14 British Overseas Territories, are not required to self-isolate unless they have been in or transited through non-exempt countries in the previous fortnight. France, Spain, Germany and Italy


are on the list after the Foreign Office loosened its advice on all but essential travel. However, a number of countries including the US and China are not included. Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye reacted to the UK’s travel corridors


as ‘a great first step’ but has called on government to open these up, while reinforcing calls for a common international standard for testing.


Heathrow Boutique As passengers adjust


to


new procedures, so too are retail operators and the services they provide. The long-running debate about


travel retail’s presumed insulation from the impacts of the high street has now reached an ‘inflection point’, according to Brown, as customers become more immersed in e-commerce in their everyday lives. “In our Heathrow Boutique,


where we make available a lot of our products for reserve & collect, we are seeing more and more retailers keen to engage,” says Brown. He reveals that Burberry


has recently joined with a wider assortment of skus than previously available. In its most recent June investor


report, Heathrow (SP) Limited and Heathrow Finance PLC revealed an aim to reduce operating expenses by at least £300m and capital expenditure by £650m in 2020. This includes stemming monthly


cash burn by approximately £81m per month, although by all accounts


“In our Heathrow Boutique, where we make available a lot of our products for reserve & collect, we are seeing more and more retailers keen to engage.”


Fraser Brown, Retail Director, Heathrow Airport.


Heathrow’s liquidity is in good shape with £3bn of cash and committed facilities available as of 30 April 2020. Unsurprisingly, the airport has


revised previous full-year forecasts, with retail revenue projected to plunge 73.8% to £189m and retail revenue per pax to fall 27.7% to £6.47. «


Heathrow is due to release its half-year 2020 results on 29 July. To watch an in-depth video interview with Fraser Brown, see TRBusiness. com.


Above: American Airlines has temporarily moved to Terminal 5 where it will join BA. Source: Heathrow Airport.


LHR – London-Heathrow, GB


AUGUST 2020


TRBUSINESS 35


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