Spain: Aena launches the world’s largest duty-free shopping tender

GAena, the Spanish public company that manages the general interest airports in Spain, announced today the call for tenders for 86 duty-free outlets, all of which are indivisible, at 27 airports in its network.

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Record turnover

The turnover would reach a record 18 billion euros. This would make it the largest tender of its kind in the world.

The bidding documents include a total of six lots, twice as many as those available in the previous tender. According to Aena in a press release, the tender will double the number of lots «to enhance and favour competition among global operators». In total, the commercial space available will exceed 66.000 square metres and will enable economies of scale to be developed.

On the other hand, Aena established a series of rules to prevent some of the lots from remaining deserted after the award, which is scheduled for July 2023. The current contracts run until 31 October 2023.

The duration of the commitments will also be increased from the current seven years to twelve years. They will also include the possibility of obtaining up to three annual extensions. According to the company, «in this way it will be possible to meet a fundamental request of the operators, which is to benefit the amortisation of investments». One of the main novelties of the process is the elimination of the possibility of having only one successful bidder.

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Six lots divided by region

Aena will divide the tender into six lots. The first of these will be limited to Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, the largest air terminal in terms of passenger traffic in Spain. It will be followed by Andalucía-Mediterráneo, which will include the airports of Almería, Jaén, Jerez de la Frontera, Málaga, Seville, Alicante and Valencia. The other lots belong to airports in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands.

«This tender has generated a great deal of expectation and has already aroused the interest of the main operators in the sector», said María José Cuenda, Aena’s Director General for Commercial and Real Estate.

See also: Aena extends passenger tax exemption at La Palma Airport