PASSENGERS USING the new Terminal 2 (T2) facility at Dublin airport will have the chance to win an expensive luxury car while they wait to board their flights as UK-listed company Best of the Best has signed up as a tenant of the building, which is set to open in November.
Best of the Best displays six-figure luxury cars as competition prizes in airport terminals and has partnerships with premium car makers including Aston Martin, Ferrari, Porsche and Maserati.
The company operates from nine UK airports, and recently started to spread its wings internationally by renting space in Copenhagen’s airport.
Set up in 1999, Best of the Best has given away more than £10 million (€12.2 million) in prizes to 300 winners, according to its website. At any one time it can have more than £2 million worth of cars on display at airports.
Its revenue is largely derived from ticket sales to passing airport passengers as well as from online customers via its website. Tickets can cost as little as £3.
As well as providing income for the airport operators, the cars are also considered an interesting attraction for passengers waiting to board flights.
The company listed on the Alternative Investment Market in London in 2006. It generated a pretax profit of £480,000 on turnover of £7.3 million in the year to the end of April 2010.
These results were announced last month, with the company stating it was “cautious regarding overseas expansion” given the global economic environment.
In spite of this, it has signed up to become a retail tenant at T2 in Dublin.
The Dublin Airport Authority is also believed to have agreed deals with Sunglasses Hut and convenience store operator Spar for shops in T2.
They join a growing list of retailers who have signed deals to run outlets in T2. These include British book seller WH Smith, giftware specialist House of Ireland, fashion group Azure and Swiss jewellery group Swatch.
In June, the DAA announced plans to recruit 500 staff to run T2, which cost €600 million. These jobs are in addition to 400 positions created in T2’s retail and catering operations.
T2 will handle all of Aer Lingus’s operations at Dublin Airport. It will also be used by American airlines and by Etihad, which flies to Abu Dhabi.
