MADRID (Reuters) – Swiss duty free retailer Dufry was the only bidder for a contract to run the shops at Spain’s two largest airports in Madrid and Barcelona, operator Aena confirmed on Tuesday.
Dufry, which already operates the shops in these two airports, offered to pay 185 million euros ($201.67 million) in rents for the retail space in the first year of the contract, Aena told Reuters, confirming earlier reports from Spanish newspapers Expansion and Cinco Dias.
Aena did not disclose how much Dufry paid in 2022 and Dufry did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The Spanish airport operator had granted contracts for retail space in its other airports in Spain to a series of companies including Dufry and France’s Lagardere. Aena said it did not get a satisfying offer for the Madrid and Barcelona airports in May.
Before Aena opened a second tender for the two big airports, Dufry insisted it found “the attractiveness of the Spanish airport operations”, adding it would “consider any opportunities when they arise.”
($1 = 0.9173 euros)
(Reporting by Corina Pons, editing by Inti Landauro and Louise Heavens)
