Zurich begins programme of duty-free and speciality tenders

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By Trevor Lloyd-Jones

Unique Zurich airport this week confirmed the programme for retail tenders in its new  Midfield terminal which begins with pre-qualification, leading up to a second round of financial tenders in September.

For the fifth expansion phase of the airport, Zurich is making a total investment of SFr2.4bn ($1.34bn). Pre-qualification opens this week for  two new duty-free-shops with a total area of 280sq m (3,013sq ft). In addition two separate tender packages are to open, one for two swiss food speciality shops totalling 160sq m (1,722sq ft) and one for two swiss non-food speciality shops totalling 240sq m (2,582sq ft). These stores, located in the Midfield terminal will serve a mix of international airlines, scheduled and charter, when the terminal opens next November.

The Midfield terminal also separates the concessions for traditional duty-free products and Swiss specialities, such as chocolates, for the first time. Unique Zurich airport's head of retail, Manfred Wych, commented: "Already in the past a lot of national and international retailers expressed their interest, as this tender was expected for a long time. The concessions are for a five-year term and other details will be published in the tender documents."

There are 80 shops existing and more than 40 additional new ones to be added in our total expansion," he said. As part of the overall construction programme, Zurich has three additional terminal areas under construction:

• Terminal Dock Midfield (opening November 2002)
• Shopping Center Plaza, landside (opening March 2003)
• Airside Center (opening November 2004)

In total the airport's retail space will be more than doubled and the number of shops will increase from 80 to more than 120 by November 2004. The invitation for tender of retail services announced this week and advertised in the trade press, concerns only the Terminal Midfield area. The Shopping Center Plaza and the Airside Center will be tendered seperately. 

All existing concessions at Zurich will be tendered during the coming two years. There will be five tranches for tender, each of will be announced separately with an invitation, pre-qualification and tender for different product categories.