The winner of the concession procedure for the operator of duty free shops at Václav Havel Airport Prague is Lagardére Travel Retail. It will acquire a contract to lease 24 business units with a total area of 4,372 Sqm. On the other hand, Prague Airport will acquire a globally strong duty free operator who will bring a much wider offer tailored to individual passenger segments, new exclusive brands, stylish and modern shop design, digital sales elements, new sales channels and, last but not least, the expansion of the local range of products. The decision on the selection of the winner was based equally on the quality of the offered services and range of products and on the offered amount of rent.
“The successful completion of the demanding concession procedure will bring the passengers a much broader and better quality offer of duty free products and services. On the other hand, thanks to the result of the concession procedure, Prague Airport was able to fulfil its strategy in the area of non-aviation business, which consists in continually expanding the offer, increasing the quality of products and services, lowering prices and at the same time increasing the non-aviation business revenues, which should even up the aviation revenues over the longer term,” said Vaclav Rehor, Chairman of the Prague Airport Board of Directors. At present, the non-aviation revenues account for about thirty percent of Prague Airport’s total annual revenues. The rest of revenue comes from aviation business.
The basic duration of the contract for the new duty free operator is ten years and it can be terminated after seven years due to the development project of Terminal 2. The total amount of rent for the ten-year contract duration is up to CZK 8 billion. The contract also includes the operation of the walk-through zone in Terminal 1, which Lagardére Travel Retail already operates, as well as some other units.
“As part of the concession procedure, we have received high-quality and in all respects balanced offers from three world leaders in the duty free business. We are pleased that the best offer finally came from Lagardére Travel Retail, with which we can continue our very good and mutually friendly cooperation in creating a modern duty free product focused on the customers and their current needs,” Vaclav Rehor said. In addition to Lagardére Travel Retail, which operates for example at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris or at Geneva Airport, the concession award procedure was participated by Dufry and Heinemann. At the moment, there is fifteen days long appeal period for participants.
Lagardére Travel Retail will open a total of seven different types of shops at Václav Havel Airport Prague within a few months. Each of them will be focused on a different assortment and brands, but in particular on a specific type of customer. Their offer will be adapted not only to the nationality of the passengers, but also to their age, needs, way of travelling and shopping or income. Indeed, everyone can choose.
The shops will acquire a new, stylish and modern design, which would be introduced for the very first time in Prague. The form of the shops, including equipment, will clearly refer to Prague and the Czech Republic, its history, architecture and art. Great emphasis will also be placed on the offer of local products. In total, Lagardére Travel Retail will offer passengers 767 brands, of which 140 will be completely new. More than 80 brands will be local, of which 32 will appear at Prague Airport for the first time. More than 90 exclusive product lines will only be available at the airport.
Part of the successful offer of Lagardére Travel Retail was also specially trained staff with broad language skills, with special emphasis on Asian languages, proposed innovative sales channels, including emphasis on online sales, modern payment solutions or a loyalty portal.
The concession procedure for the duty free operator at Václav Havel Airport Prague was announced at the end of last year. The business units that were the subject of the public tender, including the walk-through zone at Terminal 1, will be officially handed over to the tenant on 1 January 2020. Then, their reconstruction, which is expected to last several months within the full operations, will commence. Part of the space should be available to passengers at the end of March next year. However, all 24 business units will be completely re-opened by 30 June 2020 at the latest.
