No duty-free shops at Mumbai international Airport yet
The busiest airport in the country - Mumbai international Airport - is functioning without duty-free outlets for more than a year now.
By Nirbhay Kumar, TNN |
NEW DELHI: The busiest airport in the country ��� Mumbai international Airport ��� is functioning without duty-free outlets for more than a year now. The swanky duty-free shopping experience promised after corporatisation of the airport is yet to materialise. As a result, passengers are denied of the facility of purchasing duty-free goods at prices that could be more competitive than airports in Europe and the US.
GVK Group-led consortium that is upgrading the Mumbai airport had awarded a mega contract for duty-free outlets to a joint venture between ITDC and Aldeasa of Spain which failed to take off. Then the contract was offered to DFS which is yet to launch its outlets. When contacted, Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) spokesperson said that new duty-free shops are expected in a week. ���DFS would complete its first phase of work for duty-free shops at the airport in the next week. By May-end, the entire project should be up and running,��� he said. MIAL is a consortium led by GVK Airports with Airports Authority of India (AAI) holding 26% stake.
The airport operator had in November last year terminated the contract of ITDC-Aldeasa joint venture. With ITDC and Aldeasa failing to decide the equity structure for the proposed JV, duty-free shops at Mumbai airport remained a distant dream for travellers for almost half an year. MIAL awarded the contract to DFS which had emerged as the second highest bidder.
GVK Group-led consortium that is upgrading the Mumbai airport had awarded a mega contract for duty-free outlets to a joint venture between ITDC and Aldeasa of Spain which failed to take off. Then the contract was offered to DFS which is yet to launch its outlets. When contacted, Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) spokesperson said that new duty-free shops are expected in a week. ���DFS would complete its first phase of work for duty-free shops at the airport in the next week. By May-end, the entire project should be up and running,��� he said. MIAL is a consortium led by GVK Airports with Airports Authority of India (AAI) holding 26% stake.
The airport operator had in November last year terminated the contract of ITDC-Aldeasa joint venture. With ITDC and Aldeasa failing to decide the equity structure for the proposed JV, duty-free shops at Mumbai airport remained a distant dream for travellers for almost half an year. MIAL awarded the contract to DFS which had emerged as the second highest bidder.
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When DFS won the contract in November, it was estimated that new outlets would be opened by January. However, not even a single outlet has materialised so far. DFS has become the second part to face the Mumbai duty-free jinx. It won the contract by committing a minimum guarantee of Rs 260 crore to MIAL, about 60% lower than the original bidders, the ITDC-Aldeasa consortium.
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