A new operator is now in charge of concessions and retail at Washington National and Dulles International airports — and its mission is to improve the traveler’s experience at both airports.
Fraport USA, a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of Germany-based Fraport AG, took over Jan. 1 after winning a competitive bidding process last October from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which manages the airports. Marketplace Development had held the contract since 2012.
Before Fraport won the contract, Marketplace had worked with MWAA to come up with a plan to create a “sense of place” at the two airports, Jaimini Erskine, vice president of marketing and concessions at MWAA, told me. Fraport will now implement that plan.
“That sense of place is so important to us as well as customer service,” Erskine said. “We want to maximize that customer service aspect and that’s very individual airport-driven. The success of our program is based on what they can deliver for us here.”
