Dufry in pole position at Tenerife

John Gallagher

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Dufry places highest bid for Tenerife South tender

Swiss operator Dufry seems to be intent on making up for lost time in its quest to establish itself in the Spanish travel-retail business, as details emerged of the bidding process at Tenerife's Reina Sofia International airport in the Canary Islands.

The economic proposals were opened last Friday and according to industry observers, Dufry placed the highest bid for the Tenerife South tender, offering airport authority AENA a minimum guarantee of €9.1m ($11.8m) for the first year, rising to €9.5m ($12.3m) in the second year.

Incumbent concession holder Aldeasa, now controlled by Autogrill and Altadis, placed the second largest bid at €6.3m ($8.2m) for year one, increasing to €6.44m ($8.4m) in year two.

Barcelona-based Areas and UK operator Alpha Retail offered €5.68m ($7.4m) and €5.3m ($6.9m) respectively.

Although Aldeasa offered slightly higher percentages for the variable canon in some product groups, the minimum guarantee offered by Dufry must make the company favourite to manage the concession.

AENA is now studying the commercial and technical proposals from the four bidding companies before making the final decision.