Czech Airlines issues duty-free tender

Nicole Mezzasalma

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The carrier is selling its duty-free stores at Prague Ruzyne and Karlovy Vary airports in the Czech Republic

CSA Czech Airlines has issued a tender for its airport duty-free stores following an internal optimisation process that includes the sale of some of its non-core businesses. The tender covers four shops: one at Prague Ruzyne airport terminal one, one in T2 and a third between the two terminals, in addition to an outlet at Karlovy Vary airport. The four shops cover a total of 796sq m (8,565sq ft) of retail space.

UniCredit CAIB, which is organising the tender for Czech Airlines, said that 45% of sales in its stores are duty-free to passengers travelling to international locations and 55% duty-paid to passengers travelling within the EU. The company said that despite the recent drop in passenger numbers at Prague airport, the duty-free stores had “sustained their sales thanks to a higher average basket value”. Sales in the first eight months of 2009 reached €13.1m ($19.6m), a slight decline compared with the same period the previous year (€13.7m/$20.5m).

The best-selling product categories at the stores are liquor, which accounts for 30.9%, and tobacco (30.3%), followed by fragrances (19.5%) and confectionery (18.5%). UniCredit said that non-alcoholic beverages and fragrances have been “dramatically” increasing their market share in recent years. The shops are supplied from a logistics centre based in Kněževes, 6km west of Prague airport.

Click here for more information on the tender.