Bids in for Washington tender

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The opening stage of the duty-free tender at Washington's two airports Dulles International and Ronald Reagan National closed on December 20, with airport authority Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) receiving 'multiple' bids, according to a spokesman

The Dulles concession, now held by The Nuance Group, covers four duty-free stores spanning 7,520sq ft (700sq m) of retail space, while the Reagan National contract covers a duty-free cart catering for a limited number of travellers to and from Canada.

"The tender attracted multiple proposals which the evaluation panel will go through over the next month," the MWAA spokesman told TRW. "Once that evaluation is complete, further interviews with selected bidders will be held, and we expect to make the award 45-60 days from now."

The Dulles concession generated sales of about $10m last year, with revenue remaining broadly stable despite the travel downturn in North America. The operation is one of Nuance's three US strongholds, alongside Denver and Las Vegas.