Lucrative three-year joint venture with Pantaloon
Retail and catering company Alpha Airports has won

the duty free shopping contract for Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, in a joint venture with Indian company Pantaloon Retail.

The contract will run for more than three years and has been awarded by Delhi International Airport, the consortium undertaking the modernisation and restructuring of the existing New Delhi airport. It will cover duty free shops in both departures and arrivals.

Alpha chief executive Peter Williams said: ?We are delighted to have secured this contract, the first in our joint venture with Pantaloon.

?A key part of Alpha?s strategy is to capture a significant share of the rapidly growing Asian market, where we already have a major presence. In India, international traffic is growing at more than 15 per cent a year and domestic traffic grew 28 per cent last year. That presents an exciting opportunity.?

According to analysts at Panmure Gordon & Co, Alpha is expected to generate sales of up to US$60 million (£31.8 million) next year.

Asia now accounts for more than a third of global duty free sales, with India being one of the fastest growing markets in the region. The country?s economic development and the rapid growth in international air traffic have created major opportunities for duty free sales in the country.