Long-awaited Tel Aviv T3 retail tenders underway

Print Article E-Mail Article

Israel Airports Authority announces the first retail tender for Tel Aviv's new international terminal following passenger growth of over 10% in June and July.

Israel Airports Authority (IAA) has published the first of its long-awaited tenders for retail at Tel Aviv Ben Gurion airport's new international terminal three. The tender is for over 3,000sq m (32,280sq ft) of retail  space for liquor, tobacco, fragrances and cosmetics, confectionery and drugstore (LTPCCD). The authority has valued the contract, which covers both airside (2,500sq m/26,900sq ft) and landside (500sq m/5,380sq ft) outlets, at $1.5bn. Tenders for the operation of electrical and electronic appliances, sporting goods and jewellery stores are to follow immediately, said the authority.

The opening of T3, labeled the Ben Gurion 2000 project, has been delayed on several occasions for a variety of factors including construction issues, the local political environment and the recent Iraq conflict. But following a year-on-year passenger increase of over 10% at Ben Gurion in June and July, IAA decided to launch the tenders. The terminal is expected to be open in June 2004.

Tenders include the operation of the pick-up service, allowing Israeli passengers to buy duty-free on their outbound journeys and collect it on return.  The space dedicated to the facility in T3 has been trebled to 800sq m (8,608sq ft).

?The LTPCCD Tender is one of the most prestigious of its kind for commercial areas in the world and in Israel,? said IAA director commerce, properties and business development Yoram Shapira. ?The sales of liquor, tobacco, fragrances and cosmetics at Ben Gurion currently stand at hundreds of millions of dollars annually, and it is considered the most profitable area of the duty-free operation.?

Shapira anticipated that Ben Gurion would witness a further increase in passenger traffic in September and October, when the Jewish holiday season begins. Average spend per passenger at Ben Gurion stands at $85-90, a figure Shapira said was unprecedented among international airports.