A McDonald's outlet at Terminal One at Dublin Airport was selling €800,000 worth of its breakfasts to departing passengers per annum pre-Covid.
That is according to new daa tender documents for firms to operate “a key unit” at the T1 departures mezzanine at Dublin Airport for the next five years from April.
The tender shows that at the current 166 seat outlet, McDonald's recorded revenues of €4.57 million at the Terminal One restaurant in 2019.
Sales decreased by 72 per cent or €3.29 million to €1.27 million during 2020 as the pandemic put a halt to international air travel and rebounded somewhat last year to €2 million as travel restrictions were loosened.
Giving a rare insight into the popularity of the fast food giant’s various products, the figures show that the best-selling item at the McDonald's outlet in 2019 was ‘Extra Value Meals’ that clocked up €1.7 million or 37 per cent of sales that year.
Arising from the early morning rush for flights, the second best-selling product on the McDonald's menu at T1 was breakfast accounting for €799,154 or 17 per cent of overall sales.
Beef burgers accounted for 10 per cent of sales at €470,433 while EuroSaver clocked up €399,409 or nine per cent of sales.
Happy Meals generated €124,621 or 3 per cent of sales while salads accounted for only 2 per cent or €73,034 in sales. Hot drinks and cold drinks each recorded five per cent in sales.
Unsurprisingly, July was the busiest month at the McDonald's pre Covid accounting for €497,526 in sales and February was the quietest month at €281,245 in sales.
Departing passengers
The tender documentation shows that Terminal One had departing passengers of 3.3 million last year compared to 10.2 million in 2019.
The documentation shows that daa is forecasting 16.7 million departing passengers from T1 this year rising to 20 million by 2025.
However, tenderers are cautioned “that passenger forecasts are likely to have a much more significant degree of variability and uncertainty than existed before the pandemic”.
The tender states that the prospective operators of the unit should offer an internationally recognised, value, fast food burger brand and cater to all passenger types including groups, families, and solo passengers with luggage.
The current contract with McDonald’s in T1 Departures naturally expires at the end of February.
It is open to McDonald's to re-tender to operate the unit and the closing date for tenders is February 28th.
