ARI eyes Indian opportunities

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The retailer has been holding tentative talks with Bangalore and Hyderabad airports as part of an Irish trade delegation to India this week

Aer Rianta International (ARI) is the latest company to register its interest in emerging travel-retail opportunities in India, according to Irish press reports. The company was part of an Irish trade mission to India and is understood to have held initial talks with the owners of Bangalore and Hyderabad airports this week.

Bangalore and Hyderabad will be the first greenfield private airports in India when they come into operation in 2008. Reports suggest that ARI could be interested in taking a stake in the management of the airports as well as operating the duty-free concessions.

The retailer is the latest in a long list of operators to have shown interest in the country's airports. Bangalore airport part-owner Unique Zürich confirmed that it had already heard from several leading operators—including Alpha Asia, The Nuance Group and Flemingo International—interested in retail opportunities at the new airport. In earlier bids held by Airport Authority of India, King Power Group (Hong Kong) also bid for space at the state-owned airports.