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New operator selection begins for duty-free zones at Incheon Airport

Published: 11 Dec. 2025, 16:20

A duty-free zone at Incheon Airport Terminal 2 [KANG JUNG-HYUN]

Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) began selecting new operators for the DF1 and DF2 duty-free zones, soon to be left empty after Shilla Duty Free and Shinsegae Duty Free vacate their stores next year.

IIAC said on Thursday that it opened a public tender to recruit operators for DF1, which covers perfume and cosmetics, and DF2, which covers liquor and tobacco. Shilla Duty Free and Shinsegae Duty Free had returned their licenses earlier this year due to high rent prices. Shilla Duty Free will empty its space in March next year, with Shinsegae Duty Free planning to follow suit in April.

The newly selected operators will sign contracts that run for about seven years, from the start of business through June 30, 2033, with an option to extend for up to 10 years.

IIAC will continue to use its “per-passenger rent” system, which calculates annual rent by multiplying airport passenger volume by the per-passenger rate proposed by each bidder.

For example, if a bidder proposes 1,000 won ($0.7) per passenger and the airport handles 1 million passengers in a year, the annual rent would be 1 billion won. Bidders can propose their own per-passenger rates, but the airport sets the minimum rate they can start from. IIAC lowered the minimum per-passenger rate, setting DF1 at 5,031 won and DF2 at 4,994 won, both down from 2022 — DF1 by 5.9 percent and DF2 by 11.1 percent.

The tender schedule runs through Jan. 20, 2026, with registration, proposal submission and evaluation, followed by a Korea Customs Service review. IIAC will short list eligible bidders for each zone and notify the Korea Customs Service, which will conduct its own patent screening before selecting the final operators.

“This tender reflects recent business conditions in the duty-free industry and overall market demand, so we adjusted the rent standards,” IIAC President Lee Hag-jae said. “We aim to attract stable and competitive operators to improve the airport’s profitability and passenger satisfaction.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PARK YOUNG-WOO [[email protected]]