Nuance joint venture wins five-year contract at Burgas and Varna Airports
24-Jan-2013 The Nuance Group and Fraport Twin Star Airport Management AD are pleased to announce that Nuance BG AD, a joint venture between The Nuance Group and Bulgarian Airways Group EAD, currently under EU antitrust application, has been awarded a new concession to operate duty free and duty paid retail shops at the new passenger terminals in Burgas and Varna Airports, in Bulgaria. The five-year contract will commence on June 1, 2013 and the overall sales value is estimated to be over EUR 180 million.
Welcoming this announcement, Andrea Belardini, CEO Europe The Nuance Group, comments: "We are delighted to have been granted this new contract and to have made a step forward in our strategy to expand our business and consolidate our strengths. I am confident that our unparalleled experience in managing a wide variety of passenger groups and in particular Russian and European leisure passengers, together with the investment made in our state of the art retail concepts, will enable to tick all the boxes of the ambitious improvement programme set by Fraport Twin Star Airport Management AD"
The concession covers eight stores and over 1'300 square meters of retail space in Burgas and Varna Airports dedicated to Perfumes & Cosmetics, Liquor, Tobacco, Confectionary, Local Food & Liquor, Toys, Sunglasses, Leather Goods & Bags and Watches & Jewellery. Nuance has tailored its retail offer to meet the needs of those over three million passengers who travel through Burgas and Varna every year.
Mrs. Aletta Freiin von Massenbach, CEO of Fraport Twin Star Airport Management AD, quoted: "Three companies (including LS travel retail and Gebr. Heinemann) were shortlisted and handed in very competitive bids and after a very detailed evaluation The Nuance Group with local partner Bulgaria Airways Group EAD prevailed with high commercial value and optimal design solutions for the available space."
"The Burgas and Varna airports' travel retail team is looking forward to building a powerful partnership with the Nuance team of duty free experts and ensure a diverse high-class retail mix to its customers in the new facilities."
Located by the Black Sea, Burgas and Varna are attractive tourism destinations with untapped potential to be exploited in the coming 5-10 years. In 2012, over 2.3 million passengers travelled through Burgas Airport and another 1.221 million through Varna Airport, and the numbers are expected to grow on the year-on-year basis. The main pax includes Russia, Germany, the UK and Czech Republic.