What’s Happening at Incheon Airport... Duty-Free Shop Concession Fails for the Third Time

Application Deadline Reached: One Large Corporation and One Mid-sized Company Registered

The departure hall at Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport is quiet on the 29th, ahead of the golden holiday weekend. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] The third bidding for the duty-free shop concession at Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport has failed again.

According to Incheon International Airport Corporation and the duty-free industry on the 12th, as of 4 p.m., only one large corporation and one medium-sized company submitted bids for the six duty-free shop concession zones at Terminal 1. The six zones that received applications included DF2 (perfume and cosmetics), DF3 (liquor and tobacco), DF4 (liquor and tobacco), and DF6 (fashion), operated by large corporations, as well as DF8 (all items) and DF9 (all items), which are designated for small and medium-sized duty-free shops. The bidding contract conditions were the same as in the previous bidding. Due to the insufficient number of participants expressing intent to bid, competition did not form, resulting in a de facto failure of the bidding.

Previously, the corporation conducted a new bidding for eight concession zones in February, but six zones failed to attract bids, marking a failure in the process. Duty-free shops, facing their greatest crisis due to the spread of COVID-19, turned away from airport duty-free shops that require paying rent ranging from millions to billions of won. In response, the corporation relaxed the bidding conditions and attempted a re-bid. The minimum guaranteed amount was reduced by nearly 30%, and until passenger demand recovers to about 60% of the same period last year, bidders were required to pay only an amount calculated by multiplying sales by the item-specific operating rate instead of the minimum guaranteed amount. However, all six concession zones failed to attract bids once again.

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