Cuenda was speaking on a panel that included three senior representatives from Alvarez & Marsal Spain (AENA’s advisory partner for the tender), Hervé Gilge, Manuel Pingarrón Díaz and Jordi Flores.

“Considering the tender covers 26 airports which manage 279 million passengers, with 138 airlines, more than 3,000 routes and 379 destinations – of which 78% are international, this tender has a highly relevant international approach,” Cuenda said. “Spain is the main tourist destination in terms of passengers worldwide.”

She said AENA aims to attract the best retailers in the industry and is taking a highly collaborative approach to maximising the size of the various pies. The company, she said, is adapting to continuous changes in market trends and evolving passenger profiles across both the business and leisure sectors.

AENA, she said, has introduced a range of innovations to make the tender more attractive. These include:

• Better locations
• More commercial spaces
• A wider range of categories and products
• More digital experiences
• Longer contract duration
• More lots to allow difference approaches reflecting varying passenger profiles across the nation’s airports

“In this tender, the technical and financial criteria will be completely balanced,” said Cuenda. “We are seeking the best operators in the travel retail industry to obtain value for both parties: the airport and the operator. It is relevant to mention that in the approach of the new duty free contract the adaptation to market needs, innovation and digital proposals are going to be critical in the technical assessment.”

Painting a positive post-pandemic picture of retail prospects, Cuenda said, “Now AENA has recovered to 90% [passenger volume] of 2019. This summer our passengers came back to travel with very positive buying behaviour, with the average ticket value in the case of British passengers increasing above +30%.”

Brexit has been a big factor in that increase and with sizable liquor allowances now in place for returning British travellers, Cuenda said there is a huge opportunity for incoming retailers to grow that segment. “The Spanish-British flight connection numbers are one of the biggest in terms of passenger volume and Spain is a traditional and key tourist destination for the UK,” she said, noting that the British are “very heavy duty free consumers”.

That point was echoed by Alvarez & Marsal Managing Director Hervé Gilge, who said, “The British passengers are all able to access duty free in Spanish airports because of Brexit. That makes the Spanish airports markets very attractive, if not the most attractive in Europe.”

Gilge underlined the uniqueness of the tender, both in terms of scale and duration. “It provides a great platform for investments, for long-term perspective and for collaboration,” he said. “The criteria used to select the operators will be based on both technical and financial – this is really important because we are looking at creating the best customer experience possible.”

Speaking about the role of digital, Gilge said: “AENA has invested significantly in a digital marketplace to be able to bring to passengers a broad range of products and services which are offered at the airport. The duty free operators will be a critical part of that offer.”

Gilge also noted that AENA was looking to innovate in the closer integration of the duty free and F&B operations at certain airports to boost consumer convenience and spend. As this edition went to press, he told The Moodie Davitt Report that progress is being made towards finalising the tender.

Manuel Pingarrón Díaz took the audience through the broad allocation of the likely contract packages (“hypothetically six lots”), describing their various attractions and growth potential. Jordi Flores brought events to a conclusion by emphasising the quality of space on offer. “We have introduced more spaces but also better spaces,” he said. “It’s not just more in terms of metres – you will see in some airports that we have doubled the space – but we have made it much better.”

Underlining that point earlier, Cuenda emphasised that AENA will be investing heavily in the near future in improved infrastructure – notably at Palma de Mallorca, Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas and Ibiza airports – to help retailers grow commercial income.

“For example, in Palma de Mallorca, the duty free area will be twice the size in a very attractive location,” she said. “Those terminal building refurbishments have been designed under the criteria of improving the commercial income. We are trying to create the best commercial atmosphere for our passengers.”

“This tender is a unique opportunity in the global industry,” she concluded, once again underlining the value of the contract and the rarity of such an opportunity.

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