Post by Marcus Spahn

Last week, Avolta opened its new Terminal 1 duty free store at Vasil Levski Sofia Airport. It is the latest chapter in a partnership that has quietly become one of the most consistent commercial success stories in European airport retail. This collaboration goes back to April 2021, when SOF Connect, a Meridiam and Munich Airport consortium, formally assumed the 35 year state concession for Sofia Airport, exactly five years ago today. One of my first strategic decisions as newly appointed CCO was to restructure the airport's retail model from in-house to a full commercial concession, bring it to market through one of the most significant travel retail tenders in Europe that year, and find the right partner to grow with the airport. That partner was Avolta (then Dufry). What followed tells its own story. First shops refurbished upon handover. Then a flagship Terminal 2 walkthrough as the first major milestone, pictured below. Then arrivals, a growing F&B portfolio, and now Terminal 1. The 'Avolta at Sofia' vision continues to deliver. This is what the right partnership, chosen at the right moment, looks like over time. Congratulations to Jesús Caballero Pinto and the airport commercial team, and to Walter Seib and the Avolta team, for growing this unique partnership. Looking forward to seeing the new offer myself this summer. Proud to have worked alongside a great team on this: Jesús Caballero Pinto, Jens Degner, Adam Symalla, Lorenzo Di Loreto, Dr. Henning Pfisterer, Christian S., Borislav Terziev, Fernando Pérez-Peña del Llano