POLAND. Lublin Airport is to add 700sq m of retail and services space as part of a planned expansion of its passenger terminal.
“The terminal’s expansion is mostly related to the necessity to increase the capacity of the non-Schengen departures hall. This is a consequence of the increasing passenger volume of the airport,” Piotr Jankowski, a spokesperson for operator Port Lotniczy Lublin, told The Moodie Davitt Report.
“The long-term agreements that we signed with our air carriers serve as the basis to forecast the airport’s stable growth in the coming years. To implement these agreements, it is necessary that we ensure an adequate capacity of all the elements of our airport’s infrastructure.”
The operator has launched a tender to select a construction company to carry out the investment, which will be based on the design prepared by local architectural firm ARE Stiasny Wacławek. Under the plan, construction work on the project is to begin this year, and the investment will be completed in the first half of 2018.
Lagardère Travel Retail operates stores at Lublin Airport, with a 121sq m Aelia Duty Free and an 83sq m Discover outlet. There are a further seven retail and gastronomy outlets: Aelia Beauty, 1 Minute, Flying Bistro, Relay, Business Shark, Odlot Caffe and International Currency Exchange.
To date, the airport’s operator has not disclosed details on how it plans to distribute the new commercial space once the investment is completed.
Lublin Airport launched its operations in 2012, and last year reported a passenger volume of some 377,606. This represented a robust increase of more than +42% compared with 265,021 passengers in 2015, according to data released by the operator. Port Lotniczy Lublin is jointly owned by the regional authorities of Lubelskie, the municipal authorities of Lublin, and the province of Świdnik.