SPAIN. Aena has today revealed details of bids submitted for four lots of its high-profile duty free shops tender across 27 Spanish airports. It has emerged that initial bids have been made by duty free operators including Dufry and Lagardère Travel Retail for the packages which contain Andalusia-Mediterranean, Canary Islands, Balearic Islands and Northern Spain airports.
The bids for these lots combined exceed the Minimum Annual Guaranteed Rents (MAGRs) defined by Aena in the tender by +17% (calculated in terms of updated MAGR for the 12-year period in the new contracts).
They also exceed current rents paid by incumbent operator Dufry by +28% (current MAGR 2023 compared to the one stated in the tender documents for 2024) across the airports in these packages.
These airports represent 56% of the total MAGRs established in the duty free tender, with the remainder taken up by Madrid Barajas and Cataluña (Barcelona-El Prat, Girona-Costa Brava and Reus) airports, which as reported last week, received no bids. Aena said it is studying the next steps to follow regarding these lots, in order to present its strategy to its Board of Directors soon.
A statement from Aena said: “These results demonstrate the attractiveness of the business due to its capacity to generate value, as well as the consolidation of the recovery of air traffic after the pandemic. Also noteworthy are the excellent technical proposals, whose initiatives will be carried out in airport stores to offer a top-quality service.”
The Andalusia-Mediterranean lot has received two offers, from Dufry and Lagardère Travel Retail. The airport operator said both have presented technical proposals of “remarkable quality”, but Dufry has been the one to submit the highest economic offer, +30% above the minimum income established by Aena in the tender.
In the Canary Islands, Dufry’s subsidiary Canariensis has offered +5% more than the minimum required, while, in the Balearic Islands, Dufry has exceeded the minimum by +20%.
For the Northern Spain airports, Lagardère Travel Retail has made an offer that improves the one established in the tender by +4%.
The tender was launched in December last year, billed as the world’s largest duty free tender with an estimated value of €18 billion over the 12-year contract durations. Together, the duty free concessions will occupy an approximate retail surface area of 66,000sq m.
Some 13 companies representing ten large international duty free groups showed interest during the first phase.
The tender results will be published in July. Current duty free contracts at the Spanish airports are in force until 31 October 2023.
Bid details
Dufry: Aena revealed that Dufry proposes a profound renovation of all its stores so that the passenger experience becomes the fundamental pillar. The design of the space will be based on the city where the airport is located, for which they will transfer history, culture and tradition to their premises.
According to Aena, the travel retailer aspires to smart stores, in which the customer interacts physically and digitally, with innovations such as entertainment spaces. The expansion of brands and concepts will be numerous. For example, collaborations with renowned chefs in the gourmet bars Dufry proposes to establish stand out.
Lagardère Travel Retail: Aena said that Lagardère Travel Retail pledges to improve the quality of the entire customer experience, from the origin to the end of the journey. The proposal for the design of stores will feature both established and new trending brands.
Lagardère proposes to introduce environments to meet and connect the passenger through digital tools and techniques. Attached to its proposal, Aena noted, are numerous success stories in other countries, “which ensure its competitive value to holistically manage the airports of Northern Spain”.
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