SPAIN. Spanish airport authority Aena has today awarded four duty free retail contracts covering 23 airports and relaunched the tendering process for the key Madrid and Catalonia packages.
As reported, the Madrid-Barajas and Catalonia (Barcelona-El Prat, Girona-Costa Brava and Reus) airport concessions received no bids in the initial round.
The four awarded contracts have been allocated as follows:
- Andalusia-Mediterranean: Dufry
- Canary Islands: Canariensis (Dufry)
- Balearic Islands: Dufry
- Northern Airports (Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and Basque Country): Lagardère Travel Retail
These lots and their 23 airports account for 56% of the total Minimum Guaranteed Rents (MAG) set for the six-lot duty free tender, Aena said.
In total, the bids presented exceed the rents set by Aena in the tender by +17% (calculated as net present value of MAGs for the 12-year period) and improve the 2023 rents by +28% (current 2023 MAG versus that offered for the year 2024).
“These results demonstrate the appeal of the business as well as the consolidation of the recovery of air traffic after the pandemic,” Aena said. “They also highlight the excellent technical proposals, whose initiatives will be implemented in the shops at airports to offer top-quality service.”
Where next for Madrid and Catalonia bids? Will things change?
Aena said its Board of Directors has decided to launch a new process for the airport duty free shops in Madrid and Catalonia, based on the same technical and financial conditions as the former tender, once the previous 23 airports have been awarded.
The 13 duty free retailers who showed interest in the prior process will be invited to this new one, Aena added.
The big talking point is whether any of those to have expressed initial interest but failed to table an offer for the two vacant contract packages can be prevailed upon to rethink.
The major groups that expressed initial interest included incumbent Dufry plus other Europe-based groups, Lagardère Travel Retail, Aer Rianta International and Setur Duty Free of Türkiye.
Others included China Duty Free Group, Hotel Shilla (parent of The Shilla Duty Free), Bahrain Duty Free, GMR Airports of India, and UETA (controlled by Duty Free Americas).
As reported, German travel retailer Gebr. Heinemann withdrew from the race in February, saying the tender structure did not correspond with the contractual ‘red lines’ it defined during the pandemic.
Reacting to the news, Spanish Association of Commercial Operators of Airports, Ports and Stations (AEOCAPE) Director General Carlos Gallego told The Moodie Davitt Report: “AEOCAPE (Asociación Española de Operadores Comerciales de Aeropuertos, Puertos y Estaciones) considers it surprising that Aena decides to launch a new duty free procedure for the airports of Madrid and Catalonia, with the same technical-economic conditions of the previous tender in which it already forced operators to bear risks that were unbearable and which resulted in no company from the world of travel retail showing interest in participating.
“There is a risk that the same conditions will produce the same effects.
“Therefore, AEOCAPE maintains that the airport monopoly should initiate a process of collaboration with companies, suppliers and customers, in order to channel its business towards a concessionary model protecting the legitimate interests of all parties involved in the business: airports, commercial operators and passengers.” ✈
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