Frankfurt/Hamburg, 14 December 2016. Gebr. Heinemann SE & Co. KG and the airport operator Fraport AG have agreed on the establishment of the new joint venture "Frankfurt Airport Retail GmbH & Co. KG" (FAR) in which both partners are taking a 50-percent share. Both partners are pleased to announce that their joint venture will take over the operation of all 27 Heinemann Duty Free & Travel Value Shops and Concept Stores at Frankfurt Airport starting 1 January 2017.
Right from the start, passengers can enjoy a new shopping service: as a premium partner and first provider on the Frankfurt Airport online platform, the new company will also offer not only a reservation option but also a home delivery option for the tempting goods from the Heinemann Duty Free & Travel Value Shops. Passengers can order all goods online before their journey and have them delivered to their homes. Heinemann already knows about the interests of around 500.000 members of their customer excitement programme “Heinemann & Me”. The new platform enables FAR to build joint customer data to further optimise the travel retail experience according to the customers’ needs.
"The joint venture paved the way to react jointly and optimally to future developments in the international travel retail market and to the changing needs and demands of travellers, including the flourishing area of e-commerce. To Fraport we are connected by an outstanding, long-term collaboration that has existed since 1972 and has consistently been based on innovation, and we are delighted to be able to continue on with this in the highly promising joint venture,” says Raoul Spanger, Executive Director Retail and HR at Gebr. Heinemann.
Karl-Heinz Dietrich, Senior Executive Vice President Retail and Real Estate at Fraport AG, welcomes the decision for both companies to collaborate: "Thanks to the close cooperation and bundled expertise, we expect to further strengthen theretail business at Frankfurt Airport. With this decision, Fraport is taking on a portion of the commercial risk. This also opens up an opportunity for us for more profound value creation."
Gebr. Heinemann is thus bringing all some 750 employees into the new company. The existing employment contracts will remain valid. The Management of the new company will be taken on by Johannes Sammann (Gebr. Heinemann) and Georg Fuhrmann (Fraport AG). Johannes Sammann has an extensive knowledge of the Travel Retail Business. Since 2012 he has been responsible for the Retail Management of the Heinemann Duty Free Shops at Frankfurt Airport. Georg Fuhrmann, a retail expert, has previously been responsible for Commercial Retail Management at Frankfurt Airport.
Fraport AG – which ranks among the world’s leading companies in the global airport business – offers a full range of integrated airport management services and boasts subsidiaries and investments on three continents. The Fraport Group generated sales of €2.6 billion and profit of about €297 million in 2015. In 2015, some 111 million passengers used airports around the world in which Fraport has more than a 50 percent stake. In its Mission Statement, Fraport places the focus on customers. The Group’s commitment to ensuring a “good trip” to all passengers and travelers is also reflected in the corporate slogan: “Gute Reise! We make it happen”. This commitment applies to all of Fraport’s business activities and services both at Germany’s largest aviation hub in Frankfurt and the Group’s airports worldwide.
Press contact:
Fraport AG
Angelika Heinbuch Phone
Corporate communication
+49 69 690-28417
Press office
60547 Frankfurt am Main
Gebr. Heinemann
Lara Vitzthum
Head of Corporate Communications
+49 40 3010 23849
