OREANDA-NEWS. Leading travel retailer Nuance and an airport operator Basel Aero, a part of the Basic Element Group, have partnered together to operate airport retail business in four airports in Russia: Sochi, Krasnodar, Anapa and Gelendzhik. The concession runs for 15 years until 2028, and will consist of a major retail development programme creating a world-class shopping experience at each airport, including Sochi, which will host the 2014 Winter Olympics.

After completing the developments, the joint venture will operate, in its full capacity, a total of 4'600 square metres of retail space bringing an upgraded retail experience to over 5.5 million travellers. Showcasing an innovative and consumer-centric approach, each Duty Free Store is tailored to reflect the local culture and architecture, representing a strong Russian flavour.

Being an integral part of the international airport shopping experience, the retail transformation will introduce over the next few years a range of mono and multi brand stores, including Nuance's well-known concepts:

Atelier - the multi-brand women's leather accessories store focusing on premium brands

Master of Time - the most luxurious multi-brand concept store for watches and jewellery, presenting the best international brands from luxury and premium segments

Temptation - the innovative concept store for fashion watches and jewellery

Travel Star - the number one destination for luggage and travel goods, offering innovation and design

Sun Catcher - the concept store for premium eyewear bringing luxury, fashion and performance into one engaging and cohesive concept

“Spirit of…”, featuring destination theme and products. For example Sochi Airport will present the “Spirit of Sochi” engaging visitors with local products and souvenirs.

Leonid Sergeev, Basel Aero CEO, comments: “Basel Aero is honoured to set up an alliance with Nuance, a leader in the retail business. Nuance will help us to introduce a new innovation way of running retail projects with the unique technology that will boost sales and increase the airports' non-aviation revenues. Our clients will enjoy shopping at the premium mono and multi-brand boutiques with the reasonable price tags for popular

items. This joint venture marks an important stage in our airports' development. I'm sure it will result in high quality services that we provide to our clients - passengers and air carriers.”

Andrea Belardini, Nuance CEO Europe and Global Chief Commercial Officer comments: “We are very pleased to partner with Basel Aero to expand our network with four new locations in Russia. These destinations represent an interesting growth potential for our business, and we are excited about this opportunity to contribute to the further development of Russian travel retail and gain experience on domestic travel. We look

forward to take off this new operation with Basel Aero.”

Roberto Graziani, Nuance President & CEO says: “I am delighted about this new partnership with Basel Aero and I would like to thank its shareholders Basic Element, Changi Airport and Sberbank for their trust in Nuance. I am also pleased to extend our partnership with Changi Airport Group, and in particular to start collaboration

with Changi Airport International. We share their philosophy and inspiration to grow together in developing countries.”

James Thong, Vice President of Changi Airports International, and Board Chairman of Nuance Basel LLC, says: “Nuance Basel LLC is a partnership formed to take on a unique business opportunity in the airports of southern Russia, leveraging on the local know-how and airport management expertise of Basel Aero LLC and the international retail management expertise of The Nuance Group AG. The vision of all the shareholders is to

raise the customer experience level in airport duty free and travel retail industry in Russia. Both international and domestic passengers can shop confidently for the latest range of authentic quality products, enjoy value pricing, and experience a quantum leap in retail ambience and service.” Sochi, Anapa and Gelendzhik are located by the Black Sea, while Krasnodar airport is on the Kuban River about 150 kilometres northeast of the Black Sea. Krasnodar is the business and industrial capital of the South of Russia, while Sochi, Anapa and Gelendzhik are popular tourist destinations. Being Russia's most popular domestic summer resort area, it is also a developing winter destination. Collectively in 2012, the four airports handled 5.5 million passengers and have very ambitious growth plans with several infrastructure projects are underway, the major ones being the infrastructure upgrade at Sochi Airport to host the Winter Olympics in 2014 and the completion of a new integrated terminal at Krasnodar Airport, which will open in 2018.