Procurement: diverse demand for goods and services

Munich Airport procures a wide range of products and services required for the operation and expansion of an international hub airport. Our range of goods corresponds to that of a small town: The 132 product groups range from office supplies and road construction to vehicles and buildings. In 2023, the Munich Airport Group’s procurement volume amounted to around 647 million euros (net), representing a 19.7 percent increase on the previous year’s figure. To harness synergy effects, all procurement processes of the specialist departments and subsidiaries are handled by the central, Group-wide product group management system – with the exception of some items such as beverages or medical products. Since 2022, subsidiaries have been procuring some of the goods through cooperations. Since the combined purchasing and sales volume is significant, this kind of bundling leads to considerable savings.

Public procurement law: transparent guidelines

The Munich Airport Group, a sectoral contracting entity, operates in the field of «Ports and Airports». As such, it ensures its procurement policy is consistent with public procurement legislation. Where public contracts are involved, calls for tenders are issued on a Europe-wide basis in keeping with the binding regulations under procurement law. The Group normally puts contracts that are not subject to public procurement legislation to tender based on a formal, company-specific process. A party submitting a tender must confirm it complies with the statutory provisions in order to rule out anything that would prevent it taking part in public procurement or tendering procedures. They must also prove that they comply with quality assurance and environmental management standards. A number of internal guidelines also apply to all FMG employees. The general principles of purchasing are enshrined in the company as the «Ten Golden Rules of Procurement» and serve as a code of conduct for legally compliant procurement between the specialist department and purchasing.

Purchasing: economic, ecological, and social standards

We award contracts on the basis of cost-effectiveness and place particular emphasis on the utilization of materials and products that are durable and use low levels of natural resources. For investment goods, any subsequent costs for servicing and maintenance (life cycle costs) are also considered. An awareness of sustainable procurement has already taken hold in our specialist departments. They specify economic, ecological, and social standards that are applied when purchasing goods and services. This applies equally to IT, the maintenance of buildings, the construction of new buildings, the vehicle pool, and the purchasing of promotional materials. When procuring promotional materials, the origin of the item, resource-friendly production, and recycling capability are important criteria. For vehicles and equipment for our vehicle pool, care is taken to ensure that environmentally friendly vehicles, specifically those with low CO₂ emissions, are procured.

Supply relationships: a focus on the region

In 2023, there were 3,979 suppliers working for the Munich Airport Group. This number has increased compared to the previous year due to the higher operating volume. Since it is mainly business partners from the region who supply Munich Airport, transportation routes remain short and CO₂ emissions low. Our subsidiary Allresto, for example, mainly purchases seasonal produce: nearly all of which originates from Bavaria, and a good 50 percent of which comes from the area directly around the airport.  We assess our strategically important framework agreement partners according to the following criteria:

• Service
• Reliability
• Competitiveness
• Innovation and sustainability

In addition, we hold regular discussions with suppliers on how to remedy any quality deficiencies and implement optimization potential.