ARI wins Montenegro airports retail contract

NEWS FLASH

The Dublin-registered Aer Rianta International (ARI) will begin a five-year duty free and travel retail concession at Podgorica and Tivat airports later this year. The multi-location travel retailer will serve passengers from a 122 square metre duty free shop at Podgorica Airport and a 98.5 square metre store at Tivat Airport. Both shops will trade under the ‘Montenegro Duty Free’ brand. Within Europe, ARI also operates duty free shops at airports in Dublin, Cork, Larnaca and Paphos. ARI has taken over the contract at Montenegrin airports from local operator Regal-Impex GH. “We have an expectation that this is a long-term investment. It’s our first foray into the Balkans and first operation in Europe for some time, as we’ve invested mostly outside Europe in recent years”, Nuno Amaral, ARI’s Chief Operations Officer, said. He added, “Our sales there will be duty free which is always a nice offer. The Balkans has huge potential, is growing and it is a duty-free destination in Europe. The offer at Podgorica will be bigger than Tivat, but Tivat is very important in the summer as it is a leisure destination for Europeans and Russians as well, so there is substantial traffic in the summer concentrated in Tivat. We are fitting out the shops, initially with temporary fixtures, then refit next year. Our priority is to open the shops as quickly as possible with temporary furniture. We would like to be ready for next summer and will invest in the refurbishment between Q1 and Q2 2021. Passenger numbers are relatively small due to the Covid situation and the fact we are opening in the winter in a leisure destination. We will do a major refit at the beginning of next year when we relaunch and reopen the shops. We will have the staple brands and are investing in local products”. Customers to the new shops will enjoy core and non-core merchandise, including perfumes and cosmetics, liquor, confectionery, jewellery and designer sunglasses. ARI will also offer luxury merchandise from the likes of Tom Ford, Chanel, Dior and By Kilian.

Planned new look Podgorica Airport duty-free

Planned new look Tivat Airport duty-free