The Oman Airports Management Company (OAMC) has chosen ATU Turizm Isletmeciligi A.S. as its retail master concessionaire at the $1.8bn New Salahah Airport.

OAMC says the selection was made ‘though a competitive bidding process’ and the winner will now manage and operate the duty free, retail and F&B businesses under the 10-year umbrella contract agreement.

For its part, ATU Turizm Isletmeciligi A.S.  was founded in 1999 as a joint venture between TAV Airports Holding and Unifree Duty Free/Gebr. Heinemann. Based in Istanbul, Turkey, the retail company operates duty free stores in Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara, Alanya in Turkey; Tbilisi, Batumi and Kutaisi in Georgia; Enfidha and Monastir in Tunisia; Skopje and Ohrid in Macedonia; and Riga in Latvia.

‘A BRIGHTER FUTURE AHEAD’
“We are pleased to be working with ATU Duty Free team to help us communicate our vision, as Salalah is experiencing significant economic growth in its tourism, leisure and hospitality, industries and with passenger numbers growing in Salalah Airport and spending per passenger increasing, we certainly look forward to a brighter future,” commented Samer Al Nabhani, OAMC Commercial Operations General Manager.

The company says that the existing Salalah airport has witnessed a surge in passenger traffic during recent years, resulting in ‘a tremendous increase in the number of tourists from neighbouring GCC and European countries’, as the Khareef Festival has proved to be a big crowd puller, added Al Nabhani.

OAMC also says the new terminal at Salalah Airport is due to open soon, with an initial capacity of one million passengers a year. It has been designed to allow for subsequent phased expansion in line with demand, with an ultimate annual capacity of 6m passengers. Salalah Airport’s expansion is part of a strategic aim to further develop Salalah as a tourist destination.

[The existing Muscat Airport business is currently run by a 50-50 joint venture between Aer Rianta International Middle East and Oman Air known as Oman Sales & Services LLC. ARI has operated duty free shops at Muscat International Airport for the past eleven years and also manages in-flight operations for Oman Air and an outlet at the local sea port, Port Sultan Qaboos. For more information on the background to this tender and the bigger tender due later at Muscat Airport, click here: http://www.trbusiness.com/index.php/regional/middleeast/14878-oman-begins-first-phase-bid-process.html].