Gebr. Heinemann opens fifth Duty Free Shop at Catania-Fontanarossa Airport

The new shop will be Heinemann’s fifth Duty Free & Travel Value Shop at the airport. The four shops located in Terminal A (LTC and PC Schengen, Gate shop Non-Schengen and Accessories Shop Schengen) cover a total sales area of 245 sq m and have been operated by Travel Retail Italiana since 2014.

“Catania-Fontanarossa Airport is an extremely committed and professional partner with a very long-term focus. For this reason, we are a great match for each other and have been working for five years now on continuously designing a tailor-made shopping experience for our passengers at Catania-Fontanarossa Airport. The new shop is a great confirmation of our long-term and trusted partnership,” says Karl Niendorf, Managing Director at Travel Retail Italiana.

Big focus on local brands and dolce vita

In the new shop customers will find the entire Duty Free range of perfumes and cosmetics, confectionery and spirits, accessories and convenience offer. The new shop is boasting the largest beauty area of all shops at Catania Airport, catering to the demand for new and trendy products especially among domestic travellers. As Terminal C is exclusive to EasyJet flights, there is also a high focus on price offer zones.

In addition, there is a particular large selection of popular local brands. Around 70 sq m of retail space are dedicated exclusively to regional products. Alongside souvenirs, typical Italian products ranging from accessories to specialties from the food and liquor categories are offered within the “Sicilian market concept” reflecting the local spirit of the airport. While travellers wait for their flights, they can discover the diverse flavours and unique tastes of Italy – from real Italian parmesan and original Italian salami to limoncello, Sicilian wines and the almond and pistachio pastries typical of the region. Features typical of Italian markets and fine-dining restaurants around the country generate a homely Italian ambience in the shop. The regional back wall drawings with typical Sicilian features were drawn by a Sicilian artist over a period of four days, with the final elements completed live during the shop opening ceremony.

“The opening of the new Heinemann shop in the Terminal C is a further quality building block for Catania Airport. Once more, this international brand has chosen our city to invest and open a new retail shop of over 200 sqm in this airport, thus confirming the attractivity  of our airport which, today, is a reference point and a hub for all the tourist activities in eastern Sicily, with almost 10 million passengers passing by.  

Furthermore, the opening of the shop corroborates the choice to return Terminal C to passengers’ use,  thus recovering an essential space. A space which, starting from today,  gets further enriched and confirms the big potential of a structure which – in  addition to being a place devoted to mobility – becomes more and more an “experience”. Therefore, we must thank Heinemann for being at our side again, to make Catania airport always more and more international and attractive for big brands,” says Nico Torrisi, CEO of Catania-Fontanarossa Airport.

Potential for further growth

Catania is a strategically important market for Gebr. Heinemann. The airport is the main gateway to Sicily and the entrance door to the most important tourist destinations of south Italian island, such as Taormina, the Aeolian Islands, Etna, Siracusa, Ragusa and Agrigento. With almost 10 million passengers, Catania-Fontanarossa Airport is developing with rapid growth. In addition to domestic travellers from Italy, passengers from Germany, Austria, Switzerland the UK and France are among the strongest customer groups in the Heinemann Duty Free & Travel Value Shops.

“Catania is one of our key Italian outlets. We see a big potential to further encourage growth, especially due to the added passenger capacity with Terminal C. Therefore, we are keen on further investing in increased commercial offers and shop concepts at this airport,” says Karl Niendorf.