Leisure operator SSP Group bags Gran Canaria Airport deal worth £121m

SSP Group plc, operator of food and beverage outlets at travel locations around the world, has secured an eight-year deal in the Canary Islands worth €136m (c.£121m).

The London-headquartered company will open 10 new units at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Airport in a contract valued at €17m a year.

The scheme will feature a mix of local and national brands and include both refurbished and newly created units.

Spanish charcuterie brand Enrique Tomás and O’Learys Bar & Restaurant will be located in the airport’s food court area, while SOHO Coffee Co. will occupy a unit in the north check-in area and another in the south pier.

All three brands will open later this year and into 2019.

Two Burger King units, in the south and north piers, and a Starbucks near the boarding gates are already operational.

Blanca Ripoll, director general of SSP Spain, said: “We are delighted to have secured these units in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Airport.

“This new contract win reaffirms SSP’s position as a leading restaurant operator in the travel market in the Canary Islands with a presence in Tenerife, Lanzarote and Las Palmas.”

Blanca added: “The hospitality industry is currently very buoyant in Spain. Branded restaurant chains are, in particular, strong generators of wealth and employment in the country.”