Lotte Duty Free, South Korea's leading duty-free operator, said Thursday that it has won a bid to sell cigarette and liquor products at Singapore's Changi Airport.
The retailer will operate 18 liquor and tobacco stores spanning more than 8,000 square meters across the airport's four terminals, replacing DFS, officials said.
(Yonhap)
It marks the first time in the airport that a new operator is being awarded rights to set up shop, Lotte Duty Free said. The contract will last for six years and start in June, 2020.
Local rival, Shilla Duty Free, and Germany's Heineman Duty Free also submitted bids to operate tobacco and liquor concessions, making it a three-way bidding war.
DFS, which has been operating cigarette and liquor shops at Changi Airport since 1980, did not seek an extension of a contract late last year.
Lotte Duty Free, the world's No. 2 duty-free operator by sales, went all-out to win the bid and pave the way for it to achieve overseas sales of 1 trillion won ($820 million).
The company, which in 2012 became the first South Korean duty free operator to make forays overseas, posted 240 billion won in overseas revenue last year. It runs 13 duty-free shops at airports in Hanoi, Brisbane, Guam and other locations. (Yonhap)
