Second Phase of the Contest for Aena Duty-Free Stores Begins

The 13 large operators that showed interest in the largest duty-free shop tender in the world launched by Aena last December have demonstrated their solvency and have moved on to the next phase of the tender.

They are the European groups Heinemann, Smartseller, Lagardère, Aer Rianta, Dufry, Canariensis and DF; Asian Bahrain Duty Free, Hotel Shilla (Korea), GMR (India), Setur (Turkey) and China Duty Free; and the American UETA. It is the first time that giants from Asia and America show their interest in entering Spanish airports, which highlights the expectation aroused by the Aena tender, the largest in the world by volume of business: we are talking about 18,000 million euros .

In the first phase of the tender, the operators prove the solvency required to handle this volume of business. Subsequently, they move on to the bid submission phase, in which they have a period of 12 weeks to present their business idea.

The tender will involve the renovation of commercial spaces in 27 airports in the Aena network, since the current contracts are in force until October 31, 2023. Although this specification contemplates a greater number of lots, with a total of 6 compared to 3 in the previous tender, and with an adequate size that allows economies of scale to be developed. The duration of the contract is also increased, from 7 to 12 years, with the possibility of three annual extensions.

In this tender, the impact of Brexit has been taken into account and it will represent a great change in the business of Aena’s duty-free stores, since the duty free regime predominates in almost all the lots. It must be taken into account that a large part of the users of the Aena network are travelers from the United Kingdom, and with Brexit many purchases, previously tax-free, are now aggravated by VAT and customs limitations.