Sichuan Province Airport Group has awarded China Duty Free Group a contract to operate duty free shops through a joint venture agreement at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport.

 

Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, described as an ‘international hub’ and located in the southwest of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, registered a total of 12.74 million passengers between January and May this year.

 

According to the airport group, which operates a dual international airport system incorporating both Chengdu Tianfu Airport and Chengdu Shuangliu, the majority of international flights will be transferred to Tianfu for operation, while Shuangliu will retain Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan routes.

 

Joining forces to establish a joint venture company, CDFG and Sichuan Airport Group will operate departures and arrivals duty free stores at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, building ‘a leading domestic and world-renowned new first-tier airport duty free comprehensive flagship store’ in the process, said CDFG.

CDFG said it attaches great importance to the development of the duty free business at Chengdu Airport, and has cooperated with Sichuan Airport Group for many years.

 

Currently, CDFG’s Chengdu Tianfu Airport Outbound Duty Free Shop has an operating area of ​​4,103.74sq m.

 

CDFG’S long-standing partnership with Sichuan Airport Group

The departures and arrivals duty free shops at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport will stretch over 928sq m; 474sq m for the departures store and 454sq m for the arrivals store.

 

Backed by the major travel and tourism prowess and expertise of its parent company, China Tourism Group (CTG), CDFG, said its new stores will fully reflect the ‘high-tech features of Chengdu’ and demonstrate CDFG’s digital capabilities to realise ‘a truly technological and modern new duty free format’. CDFG hopes to create a new retail ecosystem, and help Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport become a ‘first-class international airport’.

 

As reported, CDFG also gained the contract at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport T4 Terminal and this latest win only serves to help the company further consolidate its dominant position in the China travel retail industry.

 

In exclusive comments, Bloomberg Intelligence told TRBusiness that it believes CDFG’s earnings outlook in 2023 to be positive and that a gradual easing of Covid measures next year should facilitate a quicker ramp up of its new Haikou Mall, delivering a sizeable boost to Hainan-generated duty free sales.