Copenhagen Airport goes local with foodmarket and apartment-style lounge

By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com

18 September 2012 | Airports have often be called ‘non-places’: generic environments such as shopping malls, business parks or gas stations which can be found everywhere and are completely devoid of local identity. Says Hunter Glayton from architecture and design firm Gensler, “Many airports lack a distinct sense of place. They fail to reflect the culture of their host cities, preventing travellers from experiencing their terminals as unique spaces. By not establishing a sense of character within their walls, these airports miss out on an opportunity to elevate passengers’ travel experience.”

This type of airport experience is changing fast however (f.e. see this recent Washington Post article “The New Generation of Airports”) and following earlier ‘localization’ initiatives by airports such as Amsterdam Schiphol (Holland Boulevard), Tokyo Haneda (Edo Market), and Helsinki Vantaa (Almost @Home Lounge), we recently spotted two new examples at Copenhagen Kastrup Airport.

Foodmarket
At Copenhagen Kastrup, food & beverage operator SSP has recently opened a new deli concept called Foodmarket, which is based on Danish nutrition expert Louise Bruun’s 80/20 principle of eating wholesome food most of the time, but also leaving room for less-healthy indulgences.

Foodmarket features dishes made from fresh, organic produce including soups, hot wraps, salads, freshly baked organic bread and made-to-order sandwiches, burgers and juices, as well as cookies, cakes and snacks. All suppliers have been carefully selected to support the concept, which is the result of a partnership between SSP and well-known Copenhagen restaurateurs Jakob Blom and Kristian Willumsen, in order to “develop a credible universe based on the principles of proximity, sustainability and close collaboration with our suppliers.”

Furthermore, tapping into the current ‘DIY health’ trend of consumers wanting and being able to track their eating behaviour, the amount of excercise they have, etcetera, Foodmarket customers can access the nutritional facts of the food on offer by scanning QR codes using one of the iPads available in the deli.

CPH Apartment
Tapping into the so-called ‘being space’ trend (as coined by trendwatching.com), Copenhagen Airport in July 2011 also opened ‘CPH Apartment’, a lounge that is inspired by classical Copenhagen luxury apartments with stucco ceilings, herringbone parquet and quality Scandinavian furniture.

The venue is divided into six zones: An entrance hall with a cloakroom area, an information zone with flight information screens, newspapers and international magazines, a dining room with a lit fireplace, a sitting room where passengers can relax and recharge, a library with easy chairs and a view of the aircraft on the tarmac, and a conference zone where up to four persons can hold meetings in calm surroundings.

The furniture at CPH Apartment is primarily Scandinavian, including bookshelves from Muuto, dining chairs from Hay, a Beck lounge table, the award-winning “In Duplo” sofa from Erik Jørgensen and the famous Wing Chair designed by H. J. Wegner.

CPH Apartment is the result of a partnership between Copenhagen Airport and handling company Novia, which handles airlines such as Emirates, Gulf Air and Qatar Airlines at the airport. Says Carsten Nørland, VP Sales and Marketing of Copenhagen Airport, “Copenhagen Airport increasingly attracts new airlines, most recently three airlines from the Middle East that are all reputed for their high standard. The new facilities cater to the requirements of these airlines and also give other passengers the opportunity to visit [...] a special home-like and informal Scandinavian ambience.”

Access to CPH Apartment is free for premium passengers of Air France, KLM, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Gulf Air, and other passengers are charged a DKK 169 (USD30, EUR22.50) entrance fee.

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