Oman duty-free role for Abu Dhabi?

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Exclusive to TRW: By Dermot Davitt

Abu Dhabi Duty Free could soon play a pivotal role in developing airport retail in Oman, TRW can reveal.

The operator is in talks to supply duty-free goods to local operator Oman Aviation Services, which runs liquor and tobacco outlets at the country's international airports. But after the reported ousting of rival operator Oman Duty Free from Muscat's Seeb airport by the airport authority last month, there is now no operator for the remaining product categories. Oman Aviation has the opportunity to operate them until a planned tender takes place in around nine months. Oman Duty Free, meanwhile, said it was studying the legal implications of the authority's actions but declined to comment further.

Abu Dhabi Duty Free (ADDF) managing director Mohamed Mounib said Oman Aviation had approached ADDF for assistance.

"We've said we're not interested merely in a short-term arrangement, we want to be involved long-term. We'll be supplying them with a number of products and lending logistical support. If it goes well and we're satisfied, we may come to an arrangement to bid for the shops later this year."

Duty-free tenders are rare in the region, with the bid for Jordan's duty-free shops one of the only exceptions. The move may have been prompted by BAA's involvement in a new consortium to manage Oman's airports (TRW 10/9/01). State-run Oman Aviation Services is also a stakeholder in the new OAMC (Oman Airports Management Co) consortium.

Meanwhile, ADDF registered a 20% fall in sales last year, as the impact of September 11 plus the knock-on effects of Gulf Air's troubles hit the retailer hard. Sales were $74m for the year.

Finally, ADDF's new outlet on the land border between the UAE and Saudi Arabia opened on February 16. "We put a great deal of time and effort into perfecting the smallest details," said Mounib, who expects around 2.5m people a year to pass through the crossing.

• Further details on these developments will appear in the next issue of Duty-Free News International.