Bidders wait on Sweden as Alpha and Inflight Service team up

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The winner of the 15-airport duty-free tender in Sweden will be decided in the coming weeks, with three short-listed groups in discussions with airport authority Luftfartsverket (LFV).

Most notable is a joint venture between Inflight Service, which already operates at some airports in Sweden, and Alpha Retail. The other short-listed companies are SAS Trading and The Nuance Group.

LFV favours appointing one company to operate stores at all 15 airports under review. The airports include Stockholm Arlanda, Gothenburg and a range of other small airports around the country.

The duty-free contract is worth around SKr700m ($66m) a year. LFV also plans to add 10,000sq m (107,640sq ft) of space at the country's main airport over the next three years.