Nominations invited for AAA Airport Retail & Commercial Forum Awards with 29 June deadline

AUSTRALIA. Companies are encouraged to make their nominations for the Australian Airports Association (AAA) Airport Retail & Commercial Forum Awards 2025, with a deadline of 29 June.

The awards recognise excellence and achievement across the airport commercial revenues sector in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region. They will be presented during the AAA Airport Retail & Commercial Forum, which runs from 21-23 July in Sydney. The nomination link appears below.

The Forum, a collaboration between the AAA, The Mercurius Group and The Moodie Davitt Report is in its fourth year and focuses on promoting the growth and development of retail and commercial revenues for airports and concessionaires across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region.

Seven awards will be presented:

Team member Recognition

• Customer-Facing Team Member Recognition Award
• Back-of-House Team Member Recognition Award

Concessionaire/Airport/Supplier of the Year

• Concessionaire of the Year Award
• Supplier of the Year Award

Airport Retail & Commercial Business Excellence Award

Career Achievement

• Career Achievement Award – Airports
• Career Achievement Award – Concessionaires

The awards ceremony will be a highlight of the event and takes place on 22 July as part of the Gala Dinner at the Ivy Ballroom, Merivale, Sydney.

At the 2024 Forum in Melbourne, seven individuals and companies were honoured for their contribution to the industry.

The winners were:

• Career Achievement Award – Airports: Auckland Airport Head of Retail Lucy Thomas
• Career Achievement Award – Concessionaires: Airport Retail Enterprises long-time CEO (now COO for SSP Australia/New Zealand) John Chapman
• Concessionaire of the Year: Bishopp
• Airport of the Year: Perth Airport
• Supplier of the Year: Wolff Coffee Roasters
• Team Member – Customer Facing: Emirates Leisure Retail Multi-Site Manager Simon Somo
• Team Member – Back-of-House: Delaware North Head Chef at Perth Airport Don Maha

The Career Achievement Awards seek to recognise long-term and outstanding contributions from individuals to the airport retail and commercial sector. One award is for airport retail and commercial managers and the other is for concessionaires.

• The second category of awards in 2024 is the Concessionaire/Supplier of the Year. These seek to recognise excellence in performance via stakeholder feedback in airport retail and commercial business. Airports will be asked to nominate concessionaires and concessionaires will be asked to nominate both airports and suppliers.
• The third category is the Airport Retail & Commercial Business Excellence Award. This award is presented to an airport that has shown outstanding performance in any element of airport retail or commercial business.
• The fourth category is the Team Member Recognition. These are presented to individuals that work in the front line or back of house, providing outstanding service and support to ensure operations run smoothly and customer service is exemplary.

Nominations close on 29 June. The nomination link appears below, with key dates and criteria for each category included.

Airport Retail & Commercial Forum Awards 2025

For queries, please contact:

Nicole Rutter, Senior Manager, Major Events & Partnerships, Australian Airports Association: nrutter@airports.asn.au

For more on the event, go to Airport Retail & Commercial Forum – Australian Airports Association