Lagardère Travel Retail and BFA joint venture introduce Relay to Turkey
The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Relay store at Antalya International Airport
Lagardère Travel Retail, in partnership with BFA – a joint venture between BTA and Fraport responsible for managing and operating the restaurant concessions at Antalya Airport – has opened a Relay store at the new Antalya International Airport.
Now present in 31 countries across 5 continents, the Relay brand is making its debut in Turkey and offers travelers in Antalya a wide range of travel essentials and convenience products such as Food-to-Go, press and books in a modern and welcoming environment. The store will include a new Discover Türkiye souvenir shop-in-shop, showcasing the country’s best crafts and foods. Local products will make up over 30% of the total range at the store.
Building on an already strong presence with three Relay stores at Zagreb Franjo Tuđman International Airport in Croatia and three at Almaty International Airport in Kazakhstan, the partnership through BFA now extends to Antalya International Airport’s newly International Terminal 2 Extension (Departures – Landside).
The Relay offer includes a range of best-selling travel essentials alongside locally sourced products, catering to the needs of both domestic and international passengers
The opening of the Antalya store – covering 350 square meters – marks a significant milestone in Relay’s growth story, introducing the brand to one of the world’s most dynamic and strategically important travel retail markets. The opening is the first step in a series of new openings at Antalya, with more new stores to follow.
BTA Food & Services is a subsidiary of TAV Airports, a member of Groupe ADP. The partnership draws on TAV Airports’ deep expertise in local consumer behavior and Lagardère Travel Retail’s global leadership in Travel Essentials, ensuring that each Relay store features a design and product offer that are carefully adapted to each location.
This new opening is said to reflect the strength of the Relay one-stop-shopping concept, combining an attractive store design with a seamless customer journey. The offer will feature a broad range of best-selling travel essentials alongside locally sourced products, catering to the needs of both domestic and international passengers.
With the addition of Turkey, Relay is now present in 31 countries across all five continents. This latest expansion follows a year of strong momentum for the brand, including its entry into new markets such as Peru, and the renewal of key partnerships at major hubs including Paris Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, Auckland International, Australian airports including Sydney and Brisbane Airport and Prague Vaclav Havel.
Discover Türkiye offers travelers a wide range of local souvenirs
The Discover Türkiye concept will offer travelers at Antalya a range of local crafts and souvenirs, including regional foods, Turkish delicacies such as baklava, traditional snacks, tea, coffee, and spices.
Nathalie Simon, EVP Retail Lagardère Travel Retail, commented, “We are thrilled to partner with BFA to bring Relay to Antalya and to Turkey, one of the world’s most sought-after travel destinations. At Relay, we are dedicated to anticipating travelers’ needs by providing them with the most convenient and seamless shopping experience. Our new signature, 'Relay, What Moves You,' unveiled last year, shows our determination to continuously refresh our flagship travel essentials brand."
Baha Bülbül, CEO BTA Food & Services, added, “We are excited to expand our strong collaboration with Lagardère Travel Retail to the Turkish market. This is yet another step to enhance passenger experience through BFA, our unique partnership with Fraport in Antalya. The brand-new Relay store at Antalya Airport, along with our existing locations at Zagreb and Almaty, allows us to serve a broader audience and provide travelers with high-quality products and services that meet their needs on the go."
Lagardère Travel Retail is regarded as a global leader in Travel Essentials, with a diversified and a multi-category offer and spans more than 2,500 stores in 31 countries. Its extensive portfolio of proprietary and partner brands covers the full spectrum of travelers’ needs.
The largest holiday gateway in the Mediterranean, Antalya Airport recently expanded its terminal and airside capacity, introducing a brand-new passenger experience. TAV Airports and Fraport JV completed the first phase of expansion works of €850 million, in less than three years. In the first phase, annual capacity is 65 million passengers and during the concession period the capacity will reach over 80 million passengers.
BFA brought together a varied and distinctive F&B offer at T2. In 2024, Antalya Airport served a total of 105 airlines flying to 229 destinations -214 international and 15 domestic- in 52 countries. It served 31.7 million international and 6.6 million domestic passengers -the highest in its history.
