Abu Dhabi Airports awards F&B contracts for Midfield Terminal

More than 80 concessionaires submitted more than 250 brands, according to Abu Dhabi Airports.

The terminal will have 28,000 square metres of commercial space. Courtesy Abu Dhabi Airports

The food and beverage operators have been picked for Abu Dhabi airport’s upcoming Midfield Terminal.

The four winners were whittled down from an 80-strong field of bidders who submitted a total of 250 brands for consideration to fill the 11,300 square metres of dining space in the building.

The operator Abu Dhabi Airports did not disclose which brands will be in the terminal, but said the concessionaire contracts went to the Emirates Group subsidiary Emirates Leisure Retail (ELR), the airport and motorway dining specialist HMSHost International, the duty free retailer Lagardère Capital and the British caterer SSP.

“Bearing in mind the wide demographic that we will be catering to, we are thrilled with the pioneering, avant-garde approaches that we have been able to gather together under one roof,” said Mohamed Al Mazrouei, the chief executive of Abu Dhabi Airports.

“We challenged bidders to capture the essence of Arabian hospitality. The winning concessionaires were those that had demonstrated their ability to deliver on the vision behind it all – providing spectacular ideas that will translate into sensational experiences, exceeding the expectations of our business partners and customers alike.”

HMSHost, which recently opened an urban garden at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, said that it would operate 11 outlets in the terminal including a Jones the Grocer, Lebanese casual restaurant Comptoir Libanais and an Outback Steakhouse.

London’s SSP told Moodiereport.com that the building will include a “food park” inspired by the capital’s Umm Al Emarat park.

Lagardère Capital, a joint venture between the investment company Abu Dhabi Capital Group and the French travel retailer Lagardère Travel Retail, was also picked in December to operate the duty free tobacco and confectionery outlets.

The Midfield Terminal is set to open on National Day 2017 and will take Abu Dhabi International Airport’s overall capacity to 45 million passengers a year. The airport handled 23.3 million passengers last year.

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