Aldeasa and GACA confirm Saudi victory

Gavin Lipsith

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Retailer and civil aviation authority release more details of the win, which Aldeasa believes will be worth up to $90m sales in the first year

Spanish retailer Aldeasa and the Saudi Arabian General Authority of Civil Aviation have confirmed that the retailer and local partner Al Musbah have won the 10-year deal to operate duty-free retail at the kingdom’s three main international airports. The partnership has been appointed preferred bidder and both sides expect to sign the five contracts by mid-June.

Of the five duty-free outlets, two are in Riyadh airport and cover 2,600sq m; another two will be in Jeddah, totalling 1,500sq m, and the fifth will be in Dammam, covering 400sq m. The companies anticipated sales of up to $90m in the first year of operation, although they warned that the figures are an estimate as there is no duty-free business in Saudi Arabian airports at present.

Aldeasa will be taking some of the offerings and services it introduced in the new Madrid Barajas terminal four, including international luxury leather goods and accessories brands and high-end fragrances and cosmetics.

Al Musbah has extensive experience in the Saudi market, with over 200 points of sale in the country’s major shopping centres, hypermarkets and supermarkets. The group’s core business is distribution of fragrances, cosmetics and gift items. Under the terms of the partnership agreement, Aldeasa and Al Musbah will both have their logos displayed in the points of sale.

GACA president His Excellency Abdullah Bin Mohamed Noor Raheemi said: “GACA is passing through a transition stage during which the procedures, rules and understandings of dealing with others, and the private sector in particular, are being changed. This is necessary in order to operate as an independent commercial entity for attaining financial self-sufficiency in the coming years and to gradually do without government support.

“The duty-free project represents one of the projects which will be operated on a commercial basis and represents the new concepts which GACA is going to establish for the operation and management of its various commercial and service activities provided for passengers at its international airports”