Questions remain over Beijing tender

Anna Fenton

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Companies hoping to participate in the process are awaiting more details on the nature of the Beijing contract, RavenFox.com understands

Several questions remain unanswered as Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) prepares to tender its duty-free business, with sources contacted by RavenFox.com unable to shed light on the exact nature of the contract being offered. Interested parties are still trying to ascertain whether the airport is looking for a company to supply its outlets or to run the entire retail operation.

The Nuance Group Asia Pacific CEO John Moore said he was awaiting clarification from the Hong Kong office of their joint venture partners AS Watson. King Power Group general manager merchandising Sunil Tuli said he was also seeking more details. Another potential bidder said: "It can't be just be supply, it must be the whole thing, otherwise no one would be interested. But no one has the whole picture yet."

Sources confirmed that a tender is imminent, a consequence of last week's news that King Power and China Duty Free Group (CDFG)—partners in China Power, the current supplier to Beijing—are to separate their purchasing divisions. The tender currently under issue will last until at least 2007, when Beijing's operations are moved to a new terminal to accommodate traffic anticipated for the 2008 Olympic Games.

But several local companies and international duty-free operators active in Asia/Pacific told RavenFox.com that they had so far been unable to obtain further details, including the nature of the business offered and the plan beyond 2007.

BCIA sources said they were still waiting for the tender documents to be published by senior management to know exactly what is on offer. "Interested parties can pick up the tender documents in the next few days and the results will be out by the middle of the month," a BCIA spokesman said. "The first stage of the process will be open to local, including international, operators."

A CDFG spokesman confirmed that this meant "only Chinese operators". Bids are expected from companies including Taiwanese retailer Sunrise Duty Free, King Power, CDFG, Zhuhai Duty Free and Shenzhen Duty Free.

BCIA recently formed a management and purchasing division (RavenFox.com March 3) to enable it to source duty-free goods independently of CDFG at Beijing and the six other airports it operates. The current tender is understood to cover only Beijing airport initially.

Keep an eye on RavenFox.com for more details as they emerge.