Baltona Duty Free CEO Piotr Kazimierski is confident most of the new stores in Warsaw Chopin Airport will be open by the end of the year.

Polish travel retailer Baltona Duty Free is expecting to open most of its 14 locations at Warsaw Chopin International Airport by the end of the year.

As reported, Baltona, which was awarded the nine-year concession in May, will operate four duty free shops, three fashion boutiques and seven confectionery, tobacco and newsagent (CTN) outlets across both terminals.

The retailer has also secured key contracts in Tallinn and Wroclaw, in what has been a productive year to date. This follows the disappointment of 2017 when it was forced to close its Gdansk Airport operations.

MAIN DUTY FREE SHOP 

The total retail area of nearly 3,000 sq m includes a main 1,200sq m duty free shop featuring the core categories. The largest areas are dedicated to perfumes and cosmetics.

Speaking exclusively to TRBusiness, Baltona Duty Free CEO Piotr Kazimierski said: “We have the whole of Terminal 2 including the non-Schengen zone so this is going to be a big and challenging co-operation, not only for the opening but also during the concession period.

“This is going to be our main business, but also our biggest business in terms of location.”

He added: “It is a complex process. Opening 14 locations virtually at the same time is obviously a challenge.”

Following the awarding of the contract, TRBusiness reported in July that Baltona was considering opening temporary locations to avoid inconvenience during the peak holiday period. Kazimierski  commented: “We have opened two temporary locations so far which we wanted and agreed to do as a kind of remedy for shops being closed.

“The Lagardère concession in Terminal 1 ended on 30 June so it was hardly ideal for the shops in this fairly big space and terminal to be closed during the summer holidays. I hope the transition did not cause too much of an inconvenience for the airport and passengers.”

Kazimierski, who cites the 1,200sq m duty free store in front of security as a most significant challenge in context of the overall project concluded: “We will open most of the shops by the end of the year and take over the final outlets in January 2019. These will open early spring.”

The 1,200sq m duty free shop in front of security at Warsaw Chopin Airport is one of the more challenging aspects of the project.