TAV Tunisie, a subsidiary of TAV Airports Holding, is preparing to inaugurate Africa’s newest airport, Enfidha Zine El Abidine Ben Ali International, in early November. The airport, in which TAV Tunisie has invested €500 million, will have an initial capacity of 7 million passengers.
There, ATÜ Duty Free will operate 2,500sq m of space, with the majority devoted to Departures. ATÜ Duty Free General Manager Ersan Arcan told The Moodie Report: “It’s a large space, but in new airports such as this, retail is a vital contributor to revenues, and we also want passengers to experience a high level of comfort while shopping.”
He added: “TAV is providing us with excellent space and shop design, while our partners at Unifree and Gebr Heinemann are providing logistics, delivery and product management.” ATÜ Duty Free is the joint-venture partnership between TAV and Unifree – the company in which Gebr Heinemann is a major shareholder and supplier.
TAV Airport Holdings’ Haluk Bilgi: TAV aims to create “Africa’s most important flight and logistics centre”
Tunisia’s major airports rely for their traffic on a high proportion of western European passengers, but there is also a growing Russian element (forecast to be around 15% of passengers at Enfidha -Ed).
The airport has been financed, built and will be operated for a period of 40 years by TAV Tunisie. The foundations of the airport were laid by the TAV Group two years ago.
TAV Airports Holding Country Director and President Director General of TAV Tunisie Haluk Bilgi said: “We are planning to make Zine El Abidine Ben Ali International Airport, which is equipped with the highest tower in Africa and stands out with its advanced security infrastructure, Africa’s most important flight and logistics centre and further develop it and increase its passenger capacity to 22 million.
“The new airport will provide job opportunities, especially for Tunisians with academic training. The fact that we will be able to transfer work force and expertise from Monastir , another airport in Tunisia operated by TAV Airports, to the Zine El Abidine Ben Ali International Airport will offer us a great advantage.”
