The Hindu Business Line : Bangalore airport: Retail majors see big opportunity

The retail and duty-free opportunity at the upcoming Bangalore International Airport now has a shortlist of five global and domestic stars each for two sections - retail and food & beverage - according to the BIAL Chief Commercial Officer, Mr Stefan Widrig.

In the race are the big European names of travel retail: the Nuance Group, HMSHost; Gebrueder Heinemann, Dufry International; DFS Group; Alpha, SSP; and domestic names Shoppers' Stop, Oberoi and Pantaloon Retail. They were drawn from a total of 14 interested parties.

Nuance has combined with the Rahejas-owned Shoppers' Stop for all the five packages on offer in retail and F&B; the two tied up recently for such airport ventures has bid for all the five parcels on offer. For the international retail, Gebrueder Heinemann has teamed up with the Oberoi group.

For the first phase, BIAL has two spaces of 1,750 sq m for international travel retail and duty-free; and 450 sqm of mono brands parcel for domestic travellers. The second phase would be offered in the first half of 2007, Mr Widrig said.

"We are very happy and encouraged that the main international and domestic players of the retail scene have come here," Mr Widrig told Business Line. For some of them, this would be the first foray into India.

Vendor meetings

BIAL held vendor meetings over Thursday and Friday. Their proposals would be received till October 25 and the concessions awarded by November this year. The concessions would be for five to seven years, he said.

Without giving a number on the scope of retail business at the airport or the investments to be made, he only said there was a huge potential. The positive factors were the growing Bangalore air traffic of around 9-10 million by the launch of the airport in April 2008; this is a greenfield, currently the third largest in India and growing at a good pace.

According to BIAL:

The shortlist for the retail package for international departures includes: The Nuance- Shopper's Stop combine; the DFS Group; Dufry International; Alpha Airports Group and Gebrueder Heinemann - Oberoi Group.

For domestic departures, it is again Nuance-Shopper's Stop, Dufry and Pantaloon Retail.

The third package of F&B at arrivals has Nuance-SS; HMSHost; SSP International - Radhakrishna Hospitality Service of Mumbai; Global Franchise Architects (Coffee World/Pizza Corner); Cafe Coffee Day.

For F&B domestic departures, BIAL has shortlisted Nuance-Shoppers' Stop; HMS Host; SSP International-RKHS; the Oberoi Group; and Skygourmet.

For the F&B at international departures, the list includes Nuance-Shoppers' Stop; HMS Host; SSP International-RKHS; the Oberoi group; and Alpha Airports.

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