UK. Lagardère Travel Retail is celebrating a key milestone with the upcoming debut of its flagship brand Relay in Heathrow Airport Terminal 2, following its successful bid to operate the blended travel essentials concession at Europe’s busiest travel hub beginning summer 2026.
As reported yesterday (16 July), Heathrow Airport Retail Director Fraser Brown confirmed the news to The Moodie Davitt Report, noting that Relay’s presence at Heathrow will be tailored specifically to the UK market.
Rather than replicating formats from other major European airports, the concept has been uniquely curated by Lagardère Travel Retail for Heathrow.
Reinforcing the retailer’s travel essentials portfolio, the agreement includes four Relay stores in T2, spanning a total of 1,360sq m.
The upper-level departures store, covering 420sq m, will feature a pharmacy alongside Relay’s core travel essentials offer.
The 490sq m lower-level location will focus on books, souvenirs, toys and food & drink to go. A third, 240sq m satellite store will house Lagardère Travel Retail’s Discover souvenir concept, while the fourth outlet, located in the landside check-in hall, will cover 100sq m.
Lagardère Travel Retail Chief Executive Officer Frédéric Chevalier said, “Relay’s debut at Heathrow is a huge satisfaction for our company.
“It is a sign of trust in our ability to deliver retail concepts that resonate with travellers in the UK, and to adapt our offer to each travel environment. Heathrow is renowned for its progressive and inventive approach to commercial activities and we are delighted with this opportunity to build our partnership with them.
“Following on from Relay’s recent debut in Türkiye at Antalya Airport, this is another major development for our flagship travel essentials brand – and there are more to come.”
The launch at Heathrow Airport marks a key milestone for Relay, further extending Lagardère Travel Retail’s UK footprint, which includes duty-free and speciality stores at Luton, London City, Belfast International and other key UK airports.
The retailer also operates gifts & souvenirs stores at other London airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, plus Glasgow and Aberdeen in Scotland.
The company has established a presence in Ireland through its duty-free offering onboard Irish Ferries and F&B outlets at Dublin Airport.
Relay is one of the world’s leading travel essentials brands, with a store network spanning over 30 countries across multiple regions.
Lagardère Travel Retail UK & Ireland CEO Peter Newbould said, “Opening the first Relay stores at Heathrow is an extremely exciting prospect and I’m grateful to my team for their hard work on this project so far, and to Heathrow for their trust.
“I’m confident that by making Relay a success at Heathrow, we will open up further opportunities to develop our three business lines across the UK market.”
Heathrow Airport Retail Director Fraser Brown added, “Our passengers are at the heart of everything we do, and we are excited to launch our new blended essentials approach for travel essentials as part of our transformational retail strategy.
“We look forward to welcoming Relay to both Terminal 2 and the UK to broaden our category offer as we work towards becoming an extraordinary airport, fit for the future.” ✈
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