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“The success we achieved is another indicator of our significant industrial growth“ |
Sani Şener President & CEO TAV Airports |
USA. TAV Airports Holding’s joint venture, ATÜ Duty Free, has been awarded the duty free retail concession at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas by Houston Airport System.
ATÜ Duty Free is a joint venture between TAV Airports Holding and Unifree Duty Free, in which Gebr Heinemann is principal shareholder.
As reported , ATÜ Duty Free had earlier been named as preferred bidder for the ten-year duty free concession, ahead of incumbent Nuance/Dufry, Duty Free Americas, Metalsmiths Sterling, Travel Retail Group and Prestige Duty Free.
ATU won the tender together with its 25% local partner Air Ventures LLC.
The news caps off a tremendous week for Gebr Heinemann, after yesterday’s announcement that it has bought a 60% stake in Schiphol Airport Retail from Schiphol Group. There it has established a joint venture to operate the airside liquor, tobacco and confectionery business at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
Commenting on the Houston award, TAV Airports President & CEO Sani Şener said: “We won the tender for the duty free operations of Houston George Bush Airport for ten years as a Turkish brand after a fierce competition in the US.
“The success we achieved is another indicator of our significant industrial growth. The terminals will soon be expanded at Houston George Bush Airport, which is the 11th largest airport in the USA in terms of passenger number.
“I would like to congratulate all of our employees who contributed to this success.”
ATÜ Duty Free General Manager Ersan Ercan said: “We are glad to provide service in Houston which is an important city of the US in terms of economy and tourism.
“We are planning to expand our operations here and use the advantage of being a solution partner at duty free operations of other airports in the US in the most effective way.”
ATÜ operates duty free operations at Istanbul Ataturk, Ankara Esenboğa, Izmir Adnan Menderes and Gazipaşa Alanya airports in Turkey; as well as Tbilisi, Batumi and Kutaisi airports in Georgia; Skopje and Ohrid airports in Macedonia.
It also holds the duty free contracts at Enfidha, Monastir, Carthage, Djerba, Sfax, Tozeur and Tabarka airports in Tunisia; Riga Airport in Latvia; Salalah Airport in Oman; and Madinah Airport in Saudi Arabia.
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ATÜ Duty Free has grown strongly in recent years to emerge as one of the world’s leading travel retailers with an increasingly diverse geographic spread |
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True Turkish delight: ATÜ Duty Free General Manager Ersan Ercan and TAV Airports President & CEO Sani Şener know the significance of the Houston success as a bridge to further expansion in the USA |
