The Sri Lankan Government cabinet has decided to hold new duty free tender processes for the operation of core category duty free arrivals and departure shops at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport.

 

The current duty free departures and arrivals contracts are held by Flemingo International and World Duty Free and are understood to expire in June of this year.

 

A unanimous decision to hold new bids for ‘five-year contracts’ was taken last Wednesday and approved by the government cabinet in an initiative driven by Hon. NimalSiripala de Silva, the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation. No timing on this new initiative has been announced yet.

 

 

The government confirmed this decision, at the same time as stating that it wants to award this business ‘in a more transparent manner’ in future through competitive bidding, while ensuring that the state-owned Airport and Aviation Services Limited body gains more benefits from these businesses.

 

In a formal statement, the Sri Lankan Government said: “Duty Free Shops play a key role in airport trade activities and the maintenance of said shops in arrival and departure terminals has been given as a franchise right shared among two operators.

 

 

“No tender procedure or calling for competitive bidding has been done in selection. The proposal made by Hon. NimalSiripala de Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, to appoint a Cabinet Appointed Procurement Committee and Technical Evaluation Committee, to award these operations for an agreement period of 05 years according to the tender procedure in a more transparent manner with the intention of gaining more benefits to Airport and Aviation Services Limited, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.”

 

[No less than 50 shops operate at Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport and despite several carrying the words ‘duty free’, although only World Duty Free and Flemingo International are bonafide departure and arrivals duty free operators].

This week it was also confirmed that the Sri Lankan Government is expected to ratify a loan agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency to build a new 180,000sq m terminal building.