ARI eyes Caribbean market

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The company will look to other airports in the region if it gains space at Grantley Adams airport in Barbados, says ARI director general Eamon Foley

Aer Rianta International (ARI) is examining duty-free opportunities at Barbados' Grantley Adams International airport and will look to add other Caribbean airports to its portfolio if successful, RavenFox.com can reveal.

ARI director general Eamon Foley said that the company was deciding whether to submit a bid with a local partner in the current tender at Grantley Adams, and that ARI hopes to build its business in the region if it wins space there.

Foley said that the company was attracted by the passenger profile and level of destination traffic at Grantley Adams. "It's the first airport we've looked at in the Caribbean and if we are successful we will certainly look at others," he said. "The market is quite big in its own right—although there aren't many airports with big passenger numbers—and it is fairly fragmented so there is no dominant player [in Caribbean airport retail] at the moment."

Grantley Adams airport is offering fourteen lots comprising 13,266sq ft (1,233sq m) of retail space in the departures hall and a further two lots totalling 1,262sq ft (117sq m) in the new arrivals area. The bid deadline has been postponed for one month and is now due on May 3.