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Starbucks’ Terminal 5 outlet at Heathrow Airport | Photo credit: SSP Group
Travel concession operator SSP Group has opened the UK’s “busiest” Starbucks store at Heathrow Airport – its fourth site at the London travel hub.
Seeking to cater to record passenger numbers this summer, the Terminal 5 outlet features nine coffee machines and two separate counters to serve an expected high turnover of travellers, with seating for 50 customers.
Having served a record-breaking 81.5 million passengers in the 12 months ending 30 April 2024, Heathrow – the UK’s largest airport by total passenger traffic – has forecast 30 million passengers will travel through its terminals this summer.
“This new store at Terminal 5 is our flagship Starbucks at the country’s flagship airport. The customer journey and efficiency are at the heart of our operations, and we’ve made sure that the design of this new store allows for quick and easy service for passengers on the go. We’ve also ensured the store is future proofed to manage growing customer numbers into the future,” said Kari Daniels, CEO, SSP UK & Ireland.
Daniels was joined at the unveiling of the new Starbucks store by SSP Group CEO Patrick Coveney, Heathrow’s Retail Director Fraser Brown and Starbucks EMEA President Duncan Moir.
“The UK remains a key market for Starbucks and this opening marks another important step in our growth and investment plans, in partnership with our long-standing licensees, including SSP,” Moir added.
In March 2024, Starbucks announced plans to open 100 UK stores over the following 12 months with a focus on high footfall, small footprint sites, as well as expansion of its drive-thru network. The UK is Starbucks’ largest market in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region with more than 1,250 UK outlets.
London-based SSP Group first partnered with Starbucks in June 2008 to facilitate the US coffee chain’s expansion across Europe’s key travel hubs. In addition to the UK, SSP Group also operates the US coffee chain across transport hubs in Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.
