Habchi Chalhoub wins Kuwait Airways contract

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John Rimmer

4-Oct-2005

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The group's Traveller division returns on board the Kuwaiti flag carrier after winning the inflight concession from Tourvest Duty Free

Habchi & Chalhoub has won the five-year contract to operate retail on board Kuwait Airways, three years after losing the contract to Tourvest Duty Free. The news comes as a welcome boost to the company after it was outbid for the duty-free concession at Kuwait airport by Aldeasa.

Kuwait Airways onboard sales manager Ahmed Al-Bannai said: "Habchi & Chalhoub offered good commission levels and we foresee greater profits ahead. It will operate the inflight duty-free concession as well as the two shops we have for sales staff. We anticipate some changes in the product selection from January, when the first duty-free magazine from Habchi & Chalhoub will be published."

Habchi & Chalhoub and Tourvest were the final bidders for the contract. Tourvest CEO Ian Hay told RavenFox.com: "We knew the result was always going to be 50:50. No-one likes to lose contracts, but we never made money on the concession and it was not a profit generator for us. We'd worked hard to get into a position where we could make money in future, but it was perhaps too little too late. It's certainly not a blow to us financially, and with the recent acquisition of the deal with Bellview Airlines [DFNI October 1] we're deploying our resources to good effect. It's a slight blow to our ego but we'll box on, and I wish Habchi & Chalhoub the very best."

Kuwait Airways produces duty-free magazine Alsougha three times a year and usually changes between 20 and 60 products from the selection in each publication. Al-Bannai said that duty-free sales for the year-to-date were flat. Fragrances and cosmetics continue to be the best-selling category onboard.

Sales on board Kuwait Airways reached $3m last year.

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