“We’re looking for a consulting opportunity and to share our best practices. We have a lot of things in common,” Michael Kerkloh, president and chief executive officer, told The Nation during his visit to AOT‘s CEO forum last week.

With its long-term relationship with AOT, Europe’s first and only five-star airport – as rated by passengers via the independent, London-based Skytrax institute – Munich Airport thinks it has many things to offer and exchange with Thailand’s airport operator.

Among their similarities is the midfield terminal that Munich Airport just opened in April. |AOT plans to build one at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The new satellite terminal gives Munich Airport 27 more gate positions where passengers can board an aircraft directly without riding a bus.

The satellite has no direct land-side transport links.

The airport’s own underground transport system whisks passengers to the satellite terminal in barely a minute.

Since both airports act as hubs for their regions, Munich Airport is also looking for an opportunity to partner with AOT to offer their best practices to counterparts in Asean such as airports in Myanmar and Laos.

Munich Airport’s relationship with Thailand dates back about 20 years when it awarded the Kempinski Hotel concession to the Crown Property Bureau, followed by its engagement in the transfer of Thailand’s international-airport facilities from Don Mueang to Suvarnabhumi some years later, and the signing of a sister-airport agreement with AOT in 2009.

Munich Airport is also interested in sharing its expertise and experience on the operational side withAOT, such as the running of duty-free shops and food and beverage outlets,” Kerkloh said.

“We are very profitable. We don’t need any public money even though we’re a publicly owned airport,” he said.

Jointly owned by the federal and city governments, Munich Airport Group earned 135 million euros (Bt5.2 billion) on revenue of 1.25 billion euros last year.

Almost half of its revenues come from non-aviation services including management and consulting services for clients worldwide, and from its “Airport City” concept, which the group thinks AOT may also be interested in executing.

Munich Airport offers a variety of services beyond a traditional airport, ranging from conference facilities, an airport clinic, a church and a windsurfing event to even a brewery and beer garden.

Munich Airport also wishes to learn from AOT and other airport operators in the region, where traffic is growing robustly as air travel becomes affordable to more and more consumers.

“I met the Chinese ambassador to Germany. He told me now there are 100 million Chinese who can afford to air travel,” Kerkloh said.

“This figure will grow to 200 million in three years, and to 500 million in 10 years.”

While Munich Airport may be able to assist AOT in setting up an airport museum at Suvarnabhumi, it is looking to follow AOT‘s state-of-the-art 23.5-kilometre Skylane bicycle track to build a cycling path at its facilities.