Gebr Heinemann and Tourvest Duty Free have partnered to operate duty-free concessions in three Nigerian airports – Murtala Muhammed International airport in Lagos, Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport in Abuja and Port Harcourt International airport in Omagwa.
The Tourvest–Heinemann Duty Free joint-venture, in which Tourvest is the majority stakeholder, is readying the opening of an approx 350-467sq m departures store and a 65sq m arrivals store in Lagos following a few delays Gebr Heinemann sales director BeNeLux/Africa Stephan Van Groningen told trade magazine DFNI. “There were a few hiccups but we now hope to open the stores by mid-July,” he said.
The partnership holds the concessions on five-year leases with an option to extend by another five and plans to open stores in Abuja and Port Harcourt over the next two years. “”We are opening Lagos first and we will see how it works before planning and designing the stores at the other two airports,” he said.
“We will have an official opening [in Lagos] after the summer holidays with many promotions to get customers used to a different retail experience. Until now I don’t think they had the opportunity for a real duty-free experience in Lagos airport,” said Van Groningen.
The partnership will operate alongside Dufry Group, which also holds a concession in Lagos. “Lagos airport is very much like Amsterdam Schiphol’s old terminal with two main entrances that split left and right. We are on the left and [Dufry] is on the right,” he explained.
Sources: Tourvest & www.DFNIonline.com
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