AER Rianta International (ARI) has won a 15 year contract to operate the duty free and duty paid shops at Beirut International Airport.

The contract, which ARI won with a local partner, Phoenix cia Trading Afro Asia, is for 6,500 sq ft of retail space and was awarded following a public tendering process. A new terminal building has recently been completed at Beirut Airport, which handled 1.7 million passengers last year.

The company, which is a subsidiary of the state owned airports authority, had a turnover of £147 million last year, compared with £112 million in 1994.