Airport Experience® News - Food & Beverage Issue 2026

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

OUTLINING ARRA’S PRIORITIES Weddig Shares Insights On Airport Concessionaires’ Biggest Concerns

BY CAROL WARD

footage per enplanement, the cost of the space goes up and up and up,” Weddig says. “Just because you’re building bigger spaces, you’re not necessarily generating the sales [to match]. In theory, spend goes up, but it doesn’t go up linearly, because people only spend so much. “If you’ve got a program that’s 15,000 feet and you take it to 25,000 feet, you’re not necessarily going to get 60% more sales, unless you have 60% more passengers,” he continues. “So, what you end up with [follows] the law of diminishing returns.” Weddig also says the traditional planning models have shifted as well. “Twenty years ago, when I was doing concessions planning, we would be looking at six to eight square feet per 1,000 enplanements,” he recalls. “Now the number is often 10 to 12 square feet per 1,000 enplanements.” And more passengers doesn’t necessarily indicate the need for more concessions, Weddig says. If additional passengers are coming to the airports outside of current flight banks, the existing concessions are likely adequate. “You may add 10% in passenger count, but you don’t need any more concession space because you’re putting people into the terminal when they weren’t there already,” he says.

hroughout North America, many major airports (and some not-so-major airports) are in

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expansion and redevelopment mode, building new or updated terminals and concourses to meet the needs of travelers for decades to come. It’s a good thing – run-down facilities are getting a new, fresh look and feel, crowded concourses are getting relief as expansions come on stream, and the latest improvements and technologies are being rolled out to enhance the traveler experience. But in the wake of some of those efforts, challenges have been created for food and beverage and retail operators. Andrew Weddig, executive director of the Airport Restaurant and Retail Association (ARRA), says the improvements are welcome, but he cautions that some airports are over-developing on the concessions side, making the business more challenging for operators. “Unlike any other part of the airport planning cycle, concessions [including rental cars and advertising] is the only one that depends on actual revenue generation,” Weddig points out. Sales projections inform on how much operators can afford to spend building out the concessions, he notes, and more isn’t always better. “As airports build the programs bigger and they start adding square

Above: Andrew Weddig, executive director of the Airport Restaurant and Retail Association.

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AX NEWS JULY/AUGUST 2026