Lagardère Travel Retail awarded Libreville Airport concession
Lagardère Travel Retail will operate over
600 square meters of retail and food at Libreville Leon Mba International
Airport
GSEZ Airport, a subsidiary of Gabon Special Economic Zone (GSEZ) – a public-private partnership between Olam International, the Gabonese Republic and Africa Finance Corporation – has signed an agreement with Lagardère Travel Retail to operate at Libreville Leon Mba International Airport.
Lagardère Travel Retail will have the exclusive right to operate over 600 square meters of retail and food.
The collaboration between GSEZ and Lagardère Travel Retail will provide world-class international concepts Aelia Duty Free and Relay, which will significantly improve passenger experience and diversify the offer within the airport, Lagardère Travel Retail said.
The Aelia Duty Free shops, scheduled to open in the Spring of 2019, will offer a broad range of local brands and products in addition to the wide range of international brands.
Two Relay shops, due to open simultaneously, will offer the full range of travel essentials – press, magazines and books, food and beverage, high-tech accessories, hygiene products, as well as gifts and souvenirs.
During the summer of 2019, Lagardère Travel Retail will also open a restaurant serving quality international cuisine.
Lagardère Travel Retail will open renovated shops in the current Leon Mba airport, managed by GSEZ Airport since October 2018.
A new airport, due to open by 2021, will turn Libreville into a regional hub. It will cover 35,000 square meters on three floors, with a capacity of 2 million passengers a year in the first phase.
The space allocated to Lagardère Travel Retail in the new airport will be over 1,000 square meters.
Indranil Gupta, Director of the Airport, said: "Our priority is to improve the quality of service and the shopping experience of our passengers. The new space developed by Lagardère Travel Retail will enable us to create a best-in-class commercial environment within the existing airport, before building an extended commercial area in the new airport.”
Frédéric Chevalier, Chief Operating Officer EMEA, Lagardère Travel Retail, added: "This contract follows our first experience on the African continent in December 2017 in Senegal. It is a very important step in Lagardère Travel Retail's journey towards new successes in Africa. We have demonstrated our ability to bring the best international operational standards to Africa, while developing a very strong and successful local offer. We are very proud and excited about this new opportunity in Gabon."
Libreville Leon Mba International Airport is the only international airport in Gabon and a key location for air traffic in Western Africa and Europe. Some 14 scheduled airlines serve 23 destinations in 15 countries.
The new Libreville International Airport will open by 2021 and its total capacity will be 5 million passengers a year.
