Want to shop? Head for the airport

You might not have to travel abroad to pick up your favourite scotch or perfume. Soon you will need to go no further than the airport, because that's where Indian retailers are flocking. CNBC-TV18 finds that airport retailing is set to become a $600 million business.

It could just be a matter of time before you wheel shopping carts instead. The airport has become Indian retailers' latest destination. Shoppers' Stop will be there in a venture with European airport retailer Nuance, and Pantaloon and Alpha Airports will set up duty-free shops and offer food and drink.

Rakesh Biyani, director of Pantaloon Retail says, "We're going to see airports become cities, with more and more people, travellers, more customers, more demand for food and shopping, catering to their needs in terms of shopping."

Nearly 30 per cent of sales at duty free shops in west Asia are said to come from the Indian subcontinent. Retailers now want to turn these waiting passengers into shoppers.

Paul Topping, MD, Asia, Alpha Airports Group says, "By 2010, if the airports develop the way we think they will and add to that retail space, you should be talking about a $600 million business."

Pantaloon and Shoppers' Stop will bid for retail space at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai airports. Pantaloon says it will invest between $8 and $16 million at each airport. So, in a few years, these stores will be set to take off at airports.