Poland’s Baltona Duty Free will commence its duty free concession at Wrocław-Copernicus Airport from the 1 December having been awarded a five-year exclusive contract.

Flemingo-owned Baltona will operate six stores spanning a total area of 850sq m, with the largest (300sq m) dedicated to multi-store ‘Wrocław Duty Free’, taking over space previously occupied by Gebr. Heinemann after it won the tender in 2011.

The operation at Wrocław follows the start of its 296sq m lease extension last month at Katowice International Airport’s Terminal B serving non-Schengen passengers, as reported by TRBusiness, and is ahead of its expected 800sq m, seven-year lease at Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport’s newly developed airside space on 1 January.

Piotr Kazimierski, CEO, Baltona Duty Free said: “We are happy to come back to Wrocław Airport after 5 years. We thank the airport authorities for the trust they have put in us and look forward to the next development stages and to offer the fully-developed new and modern commercial space.”

‘TWO PRICE POLICY’

As part of the new development, the main duty free store will sell international merchandise across the core categories flanked by a range of Polish ‘top sellers’.

Other categories will showcase in separate outlets to allow Baltona the opportunity to adjust its assortment across the duration of the contract.

According to Baltona, the offer has been shaped by recent passenger surveys plus input from the airport.

One attraction is the ‘Polish Spirit’ concept which offers customers an ‘unprecedented’ range of regional products from Polish wines, fine foods and local handcrafted items.

This feeds into the wider ‘Baltona approach’ that seeks to emphasise what it sees as a ‘vibrant, commercial offer’ presented to passengers at each stage of the journey.

Backed by London-based travel retail design agency The Design Solution, which designed the main store, Spirit of Poland shop and CTN (Zoom) & Fashion Boutique, the shops integrate traditional architectural cues from Wrocław with modern trends and technology.

“Furthermore, after discussion with the airport we have decided to bring back the ‘two price’ policy, which highlights the advantages of duty free shopping and for sure this will be enthusiastically received by passengers,” added Marcin Kiryluk, Business Development Manager, Baltona Duty Free.

Last year, Wrocław handled 2.4m passengers and Baltona estimates this to rise to over 2.8m this year due to ‘strong growth opportunities’.