Oliver Clark discovers that an ever-increasing number of airports are producing their own food and drink products.

Argentina's Mendoza region at the foothills of the Andes is famous for its superb red wines, and every autumn hundreds of people descend on the city's Governor Francisco Gabrielli International Airport for what is a must-see event in the province's wine making calendar.

Well-known public luminaries from the city's art, culture, sports, education and business communities are among the guests for the annual Grape Harvest Festival celebrations, during which the airport's vineyard of Malbec grapes are harvested to the accompaniment of a concert by Mendoza's Universidad Nacional de Cyo Symphonic Orchestra.

Started as a partnership between airport operator, Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 (AA2000), and the Mendoza Wine Fund in 1999, the 'International Airport' vineyard was founded on three hectares of fallow land around the gateway's terminal, and since 2004 has produced a distinct brand of Malbec wine and has become an established part of the Mendoza wine trail.

"Today, the Grape Harvest Festival at Governor Francisco Gabrielli International Airport has become a popular event in Mendoza, born from the harvest of the three hectares of Malbec grapes cultivated at the airport's entrance," says Federico Messina, director of institutional affairs at AA2000.

"All the wine regions in the world - from France, Italy, California to Chile -own tailor-made areas, so visitors can appreciate the value of grape growing and wine production. Mendoza, through its airport, adds a further charm to the landscape with lines of wine grapes ripening as visitors arrive," he adds.

But Governor Francisco Gabrielli International Airport is just one of a growing number of airports around the world that are waking up to the commercial, marketing and public relations opportunities that come from growing their own food and drink - some discovered completely by accident.

In Germany, beer lovers the world over descend on Munich every year for the famous Oktoberfest, and those that arrived by air this year were in for a special treat as the airport brewery timed the unveiling of its latest new beer, a Pilsner called Jetstream, for the occasion.

Indeed, those who managed to stop off at the airport's micro-brewery and tavern, Airbräu, could start the drinking early with a selection of beers exclusively brewed and served at the airport, including the 'Fliegerquell' lager, 'Kumuls' wheat beer and its strong, seasonal dark beer 'Aviator'.

Since opening as the world's only airport brewery and pub in 1999, Airbräu has expanded rapidly to include a 300-people capacity 'Antenna' room that can be rented out for parties, a beer hall complete with a traditional German Maypole and beer garden, and the opening of a sister pub airside, 'Airbrau next to Heaven'.

Beer production has climbed from 600 hectolitres (about 377 barrels) 10 years ago to 5,000 hectolitres today, and profits continue to rise, but aside from its financial returns Airbräu has also proved an excellent branding exercise for its owner - Munich Airport.

"Airbr├ñu is known to travellers the world over. Business travellers even schedule client meetings at Airbr├ñu and people come from the surrounding areas for a few hours, because, alongside beer, Bavarian cuisine can also be found on the menu," says Christine Müller, head of marketing at Airbr├ñu.

"Nearly half of all German breweries are located in the State of Bavaria; this fact inspired the opening of a micro-brewery at Munich Airport. The concept was to create an authentic Bavarian tavern serving both traditional beer and cuisine - an oasis in the midst of a high-tech airport," she adds.

In 1999, Hamburg Airport began pioneering a new technique to calculate air quality around its facilities using bees. The insects' bodies are highly sensitive to the presence of base metals and other pollutants as they collect pollen, so the idea was that samples of honey collected at airport hives would reveal any trace pollutants.

Each year a new batch of 'airport' honey, roughly 150kg per harvest, is compared against honey from a control area; once analysed the samples were discarded and it was at this point that the airport authority hit upon a novel idea.

After being cleared for human consumption, the honey was professionally jarred and labelled at Hamburg Airport, creating some 500-700, 250g jars per year. These are now given away at social events, to visiting VIPs and crucially to the local community as part of the airport's environmental PR campaign.

"We sat there and all of a sudden we have 800 jars of honey, then we said lets calculate it, lets see if the people accept it and very fortunately they did," says Udo Bradersen, manager of environmental services at Hamburg Airport.

"The honey is now given away at public relations events; whenever he attends an ACI Europe event or a meeting of the German Airports Association, my colleague Axel says he always takes some jars of honey to be given out to people," he adds.
Malmö Airport's two bee colonies produce around three honey harvests a year and since 2007 this has been jarred and presented to visitors.

"The presentation of the honey to visitors and others partners is a good introduction to the airport's involvement in environmental initiatives, such as the bio-gas and other projects, and these contribute to the development of good environmental practice at our airports," says Velia Ekström, LFV's environmental affairs manager.

Further south, the hot, sunny climate of the Mediterranean is providing airports with another interesting food source.

Dubrovnik Airport's 110 olive trees were just part of its landscaping programme until 10 years ago when its management team hit
upon the idea of harvesting the olives to produce something distinctive for its guests.

Now each October the ripened olives are collected and pressed at an oil mill at a nearby village, producing some 120 litres of extra-virgin olive oil each year.
The oil is bottled and packaged in boxes bearing the Croatian airport's insignia and branding and given out at a variety of events, including last year's ACI Europe's SMAG event when every delegate received a bottle during the gala dinner.

"Nine years ago myself and our management team decided to produce olive oil, which is one of the healthiest food products you can have and a recognised Mediterranean brand. The oil is used as a gift to our business partners and to our knowledge everybody who tested it was very happy," says Frano Lueti─ç, deputy manager of Dubrovnik Airport.

But Dubrovnik's culinary exploits do not end there. Running 156 metres below the airport is a tunnel system known as Djurovica Spilja, or Durovic's Cave. Developed into a tourist attraction by Dubrovnik's previous general manager Tonci Peovi─ç, the cave's excellent natural climate control has made it a perfect 'Skycellar' for local Konvale wines.

In 2006, to help revive the threatened Maltese tradition of olive growing and support local industry, Malta International Airport put its 150 olive trees at the disposal of the San Leonardo Company allowing it to collect some 650kg of olives per year.

Some airports have taken the concept a set further by growing products for commercial rather than marketing purposes. Kuala Lumpur International Airport's 100km of surrounding jungle is a case in point.

The area was historically used to grow rubber and palm oil and that tradition continues today with some 3,200 hectares of land around the airport dedicated to palm production. Sold on to local suppliers, the oil - which can be used fore cooking - generated $5.7 million for the airport in 2007.
With airports scratching their heads over what to do with their unused land, who knows what the next culinary delight will be?