Airport retail in India to grow to $9.3 bn by 2030 from $1.4 bn: Report

The airport retail segment in the country is expected to grow to $9.3 billion (about Rs 66,000 crore) by 2030 from $1.4 billion (about Rs 9,940 crore) at present, with as much as $2 billion (about Rs 14,200 crore) coming from duty-free sales, a report said on Tuesday.

Real estate opportunity for Indian airport operators is projected to be $1.6 billion (about Rs 11,350 crore) by 2030, global property consultancy Knight Frank said in its report on transit retail.

"The total opportunity for airport retail to be approximately $9.3 billion by 2030 from its current estimated market size of $1.4 billion in 2019," it said.

Duty-free retail, which is about 50 per cent of the total retail opportunity at $0.7 billion currently, is expected to grow to $2 billion during this period, it stated.

According to Knight Frank Research, Delhi airport earns close to $10-11 duty-free revenue per passenger, while Mumbai earns a duty-free revenue in the range $9-10 per passenger.

Duty-free revenue for Bengaluru airport stands in the range of $5-6 per passenger, it said.

Duty-free zones in airports like Singapore's Changi, London's Heathrow and Dubai airport have become destinations in themselves with their per passenger spend for duty-free products as high as $34 for Changi and $20 for Paris and Dubai airports, the report said.

The share of non-aeronautical revenue for Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru airport for 2019 financial year stood at 70 per cent, 54 per cent and 49 per cent, respectively, the report said.

For the airports managed by the Airports Authority of India, the share of non-aeronautical revenue stood at 13 per cent.

Revenue from retail concessions at Delhi airport stands at $109 million followed by Mumbai airport with $84 million and Bengaluru with $26 million.

"Today non-aeronautical revenue has become a very vital component to measure an airport's health and success. The rise in the number of global travel passengers and the changing demographics are bringing a paradigm shift in how retail and food and beverage offerings are viewed at an airport," Knight Frank India Chairman and Managing Director Shishir Baijal said.

Airports are no longer mere transit hubs, but are emerging as retail destinations catering to the well heeled consumer, and so the retail offering at the airport is slowly mirroring the offering of a city centre, he added.

According to the report, in case of key markets of Mumbai and Delhi, airport retail development garners revenue 2.4 times and 2 times that of successful malls in these markets, while it stands at 0.9 times in Bengaluru.

While these are the present-day dynamics of some of the transit-oriented and city-centric developments, with the right focus and retail infrastructure development, these benchmarks have a very strong upside potential, Knight Frank said.