Lotte vs Shilla... Final Candidates for New Gimpo Airport Duty-Free Store Operator

Lotte and Shilla will compete as the final candidates in the bidding for the new operator of the duty-free shop at Gimpo Airport departure hall.

According to the duty-free industry on the 23rd, Korea Airports Corporation reviewed the proposals submitted by companies participating in the bid for the DF2 zone and, after presentations, selected Lotte and Shilla as multiple operators. The DF2 zone, located on the 3rd floor of the Gimpo Airport international terminal, covers an area of 733.4㎡ and is a space for selling liquor, tobacco, and other products.

The annual sales amount is around 41.9 billion KRW, and since liquor and tobacco are high-margin products, all four domestic companies including Lotte, Shilla, Shinsegae, and Hyundai participated in the bidding.

This zone was previously operated by Shilla Duty Free, which won the bid in August 2018 and managed it for five years. The new successful bidder will secure the operating rights for the next seven years.

Gimpo Airport Duty-Free Shop
Photo by Yonhap News

Korea Airports Corporation evaluated the bidding proposals and only opened the business rate bids of companies scoring 85% or higher of the maximum points. After a comprehensive evaluation, two candidates with the highest scores were selected. Then, the Korea Customs Service will conduct the final evaluation of these two companies to decide the successful bidder.

It usually takes about a month from the bid application to the final award.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.