SPAIN. Iberia could appoint a concessionaire to manage its inflight retail programme, in what would be a first for the Spanish airline. The carrier recently issued a Request for Information from some of the world’s leading travel retailers and received the results last week. Iberia is now studying the documents and expects to make a final decision on whether to outsource by the end of May.
The airline approached both inflight retail specialists and global travel retailers for information. Among the concessionaires that responded were Duty Free World and Aeroboutiques, while Alpha declined to take part. Other companies that responded to the Request for Information include Gebr Heinemann, Aldeasa and Spanish retail conglomerate El Corte Ingles. The Nuance Group declined to participate.
Iberia chief buyer Juan Antonio Sanz said: “We are still at the preliminary stage. After receiving responses to our Request for Information we are now analysing the feedback. As an airline we should be focusing on what we are expert in, which is carrying passengers. We want to see if there is a company that can manage the retail arm of the business better than we can. We currently do everything in-house, from purchasing to marketing to warehousing to back office functions.”
He said the airline’s options include outsourcing the entire business, entering a joint venture with a partner or keeping the business in-house. Iberia has considered outsourcing before, but never pursued the option.
