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The central part of the departures level will house a well-established Hungarian brand, the Gundel Café, surrounded by shops offering global brands. The largest outlet, occupying 1400 square meters, will be the so-called walk-through duty free operated by Heinemann, which – as is now traditional at Ferihegy – will have a separate section for high-quality Hungarian products. This level will house several global brand shops as well, such as Hugo Boss, Burberry, Longchamp and Ralph Lauren fashion stores, along with a glittering Swarovski crystal showroom. There will also be a “Hungarian corner” to present domestic luxury brands, comprising of a 250-square-meter Hungaricum store offering Hungarian wines, salami, goose liver, paprika and many other delicacies, and a Hungarian gift shop. In addition, the Herend Porcelain Manufactory showroom and salon will represent tradition and elegance at the airport.
The mezzanine level will accommodate a large variety of restaurants, with a food court that is now customary of international airports and railway terminals. Travelers can expect the greatest possible variety of international cuisines at the SkyCourt, including Far Eastern, Greek and traditional Hungarian. Another new feature is that there will be two new fast food restaurants opening at the same time, since there is strong demand for such outlets, according to surveys performed by Budapest Airport. Thus, Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken will be trying to find favor with customers side by side. The two most prominent locations on the mezzanine level, next to the 20-meter tall glass façade overlooking the apron, will house a member of the Hungarian restaurant chain Leroy and, as a Hungarian premier, a French Hippopotamus family restaurant. The guests of the two outlets will be able to enjoy the gastronomical delights and spectacular view of the airport in dedicated seating areas on either side of the mezzanine level.
With the SkyCourt development, Budapest Airport may increase its commercial (non-aeronautical) revenues from the current level of 30-35 million euros per year by as much as 25-30 %. Thus, in line with prevailing international trends, the proportion of commercial revenues within the airport operator’s total revenues can increase from around one-third and move closer to 40 %.
The public opening of SkyCourt is scheduled for 18 March 2011 with the weekend of 19-20 as announced open days when anyone can come and see SkyCourt. Subsequently, the authorities at the airport will perform a full search of the building so that passengers can start to use it on 27 March.