The Mayor’s Office announced today that Chick-fil-A will open tomorrow at the Pensacola International Airport, completing the year-long transition to OHM food concessions at the facility. In the press release, Mayor Ashton Hayward said he was excited that the airport would now have chicken biscuits and waffle fries.
With the addition of Chick-fil-A, the airport food concession revenues appear ready to return, and hopefully exceed, pre-2014 levels. The airport went without food service, except for Einstein Bros. Bagels, for the last nine months of 2014. During the first quarter of 2014, Varona’s handled food concessions.
The Pensacola Beach House opened in January 2015 in the pre-security area. The post-security area with Einstein Bros., Freshens and Pensacola Beach House opened in Feb. 24, 2015. Chick-fil-A is the final addition.
The mayor’s office reported the April 2015 sales per enplaned passenger exceeded the FY 14 average by $1.41. Overall sales are up by more than 15 percent over last year.
The new food concessions are expected to generate $100,000 per year in additional non-airline revenue for the airport over the next 10 years, according to the mayor. With Chick-fil-A finally open, we should begin to get comparable numbers to track the success.