Buenos Aires-based InterBaires, a fully owned subsidiary of Dufry, has won the tender to redesign, operate and manage the duty free stores at Rosario International Airport in Argentina.
Rosario Airport, situated just over 300 km north of Buenos Aires, is one of the few airports in Argentina that is not operated by Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 (AA2000). Traffic has grown over the last few years and the tender attracted the interest of several potential concessionaires, including Duty Free Americas and London Supply. Incumbent operator Neutral did not submit a bid to renew the tender.
The airport authority, controlled by the Santa Fe Province regional government, announced this week that InterBaires / Dufry would take over the concession for a three-year period with an option for an additional year. Contracts were signed last Thursday, October 17, and renovation work is expected to begin shortly to convert the current stores into walk-through stores.
A spokesman for the airport said that they expected the new stores to be operational within 45 days. Both the new departures and arrivals stores will each measure just over 70 sqm. The airport authority is also completing a total renovation to the food & beverage offer in the terminal and the objective is to complete all renovations prior to the southern hemisphere summer season.
In 2018, 865k travelers used the airport, an increase of 18.3% on the previous 12 months (513k international, +17%, and 352k domestic, +20%).
John Gallagher
