PUERTO RICO. Aerostar Airport Holdings has welcomed the opening of the first of Dufry’s new commercial outlets at San Juan Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport.
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Aerostar is creating “a state-of-the-art airport serving the Caribbean,” said Manuel Gutiérrez Sola, Chief Commercial Officer |
Located in front of Gate A3 in Terminal A, the 500sq ft [46.5sq m] store showcases Longchamp, Tous and Tumi luxury goods.
The new store augments two temporary stores opened at the end of March 2013 in Terminal A.
Aerostar and Dufry plan a large walk-through duty free store airside, two top-ten stores (one at Gates A1 and A2, the other serving Gates A5, A6 and A7) and another luxury/fashion boutique.
“We are both are investing in order to have a new walk-through duty free store of approximately 5,000sq ft [464sq m] open by the end of 2013 in Terminal A,” commented Manuel Gutiérrez Sola, Chief Commercial Officer of Mexican airport group ASUR and Aerostar Airport Holdings.
Aerostar is a 50/50 partnership between ASUR and New York-based private equity firm Highstar Capital.
As reported, in July 2012 Aerostar won the 40-year lease to manage San Juan International with a US$615 million bid.
The holding company took over management control of the airport on 27 February 2013 and has committed a further US$200 million to remodelling of Terminals A, B and C.
Dufry holds the duty free concession at the airport until 2029, and has committed to renovation of all its outlets there by the end of 2015.
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Dufry’s new boutique in Terminal A showcases Longchamp, Tous and Tumi |
“We are now reconfiguring the whole check-in area in Terminal A to direct passenger flow through a single checkpoint and on to the walk-through store in a configuration that will maximise the commercial revenue,” Gutiérrez Sola told The Moodie Report.
Terminal A is the newest of the airport’s five terminals, and is the primary facility for JetBlue, which is now the leading carrier serving San Juan.
Aerostar is also consolidating passenger processing to have a common security checkpoint serving Terminals B and C, leading to a single walk-through duty free store airside, which is scheduled to open by the end of 2014.
At the end of the remodelling process Dufry will have a third more retail space in Terminals B and C than its current footprint in Terminals B, C and D.
Aerostar will mothball Terminals D and E at San Juan, but can recommission these facilities as demand requires (each terminal has capacity for approximately 4 million passengers per year).
San Juan International handled approximately 8.5 million passenger movements in 2012, down from a 2005 peak of 10.8 million.
With the new facilities and an active route development programme, Aerostar is targeting 12 million passenger movements per year in the short term.
“By January 2016 we will have a state-of-the-art airport serving the Caribbean and we aim to make it competitive again,” promised Gutiérrez Sola.
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Beyond the new boutique, Dufry and Aerostar have ambitious plans for Terminals A, B and C |
