BRAZIL. Autogrill-owned group World Duty Free Group (WDFG) was the only bidder for the duty free contract at Belém Val-de-Cães International Airport.
As reported, the capture of the ten-year contract marked a strategic breakthrough for WDFG in a market dominated by Dufry.
But information provided to The Moodie Report by Infraero, the state airport authority that administers Belém Airport, confirms that Dufry elected not to contest the bid.
“On the occasion of the tender for Belém Airport, World Duty Free Group was the only participant, so there was no bidding competition for the area,” confirmed Huelinton Rodrigo Wenceslau, Coordinator of Commercial Promotions and Publicity for Infraero.
Dufry currently operates duty paid retailing in the airport’s public area on the first floor of the passenger terminal
“We do not know the reasons that led Dufry to decide not to participate in the bidding contest,” said Luciano Sotero da Paixão, Infraero’s Market Development Manager.
“The space obtained by WDFG was unoccupied and had not been let prior to the recent tender,” he added. “Duty free operations have not been present before at Belém Airport.”
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Belém Val-de-Cães International Airport is the eastern gateway to the vast Amazon region – but only WDFG appears to have seen potential in the airport’s ten-year duty free contract |
The concession is for the operation of two stores, one in the Departures lounge and another in the international Arrivals hall, in a total area of 308sq m.
WDFG has committed to a monthly rental of R$22,000 (US$10,900) over the ten-year term.
Sale of both domestic and foreign goods is permitted under the governing Regulatory Instruction RFB No. 863.
“We are currently in the phase of project presentation, and the inauguration of the space is forecast to be in November or December 2012,” Sotero da Paixão advised.
Belém Val de Cães has limited international traffic, primarily to Central America, Surinam and French Guyana.
Other parties including DFS Group are showing active interest in Brazilian airport concessions, especially since the partial privatisation of São Paulo’s Guarulhos and Viracopos, and Brasilia International Airport, in February 2012.
Before the Belém tender process commenced, Claiton Resende Faria, Infraero’s Superintendent of Commercial Business, told The Moodie Report that he anticipated the participation of Dufry and World Duty Free Group and possibly DFS Group, Grupo Wisa and some local retail concerns.
