Aelia

What Aelia does

Aelia is a privately operated duty-free travel retailer that sells tax-free merchandise — primarily alcohol, confectionery, and other premium travel goods — through a network of 30+ physical concession stores at international airports and ferry terminals, supplemented by an e-commerce platform that supports online pre-purchase with collection at the customer's departure or arrival airport. The geographic footprint spans 14+ countries across Europe (France, UK, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Romania, Croatia, Albania, Italy, Poland, Ireland), Asia (Cambodia), the Americas (Peru), and Oceania (New Zealand, Australia), with notable presence at major hubs including Paris Gare du Nord, Rome Fiumicino, London City and Luton, Geneva Cointrin, Warsaw Chopin, and Auckland.

The company's core product is the unified Aelia Duty Free platform (aeliadutyfree.com), which combines a retail storefront with a customer account system, shopping cart, and store-locator enabling airport pickup. The underlying technology is a standard e-commerce stack without disclosed proprietary features, AI/ML capabilities, or differentiated platform architecture in the input data. The platform supports multiple language presentations (English and French observed) and a promotional content layer featuring brand and seasonal campaigns.

Aelia generates revenue through transactional sales of duty-free merchandise to international travelers — business travelers, tourists, and leisure passengers eligible for duty-free allowances. The revenue model is direct-to-consumer retail, both in-store at airports/ferry terminals and online with in-person pickup. The customer segment is broadly distributed across global passenger flows, with no enterprise or B2B customers disclosed. Pricing is product-level and not publicly disclosed beyond the platform. The company does not appear to have a parent company, investor base, or funding history disclosed in the input, and operates as a standalone private retailer; the global footprint claim of cross-continental reach is consistent with the listed airport and ferry locations.

Name

Aelia

Website

https://aelia.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Aelia is a privately operated duty-free travel retailer selling alcohol, confectionery, and premium goods through 30+ airport and ferry terminal stores across 14+ countries, supplemented by an e-commerce platform with airport pickup for international travelers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Airport Duty-Free Retail

NAICS

Convenience Retailers (445131)

SIC

Retail-Convenience Stores (5412)

akta.pro primary industry

Airport Duty-Free Alcohol & Tobacco Stores (CRANAIAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Ferry & Port Duty-Free Alcohol & Tobacco Retail (CRANAIAD), Travel Hub Convenience Alcohol/Tobacco Retail (Newsstand/Convenience in Airports/Stations) (CRANAIAJ)

Keywords

• Duty-free retail
• Airport retail
• Travel retail
• Confectionery sales
• Alcohol retail

Headquarters

HQ city

Lyon

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices29 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Duty-Free Retail Sales: Revenue generated from selling duty-free products including alcohol, confectionery, and other duty-free merchandise through physical airport stores and online pre-purchase platform. Customers collect purchased items at airport locations on departure or arrival.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Aelia operates duty-free retail stores at international airports and ferry terminals across Europe, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas, selling tax-free merchandise such as alcohol, confectionery, and specialty items. Through its e-commerce platform (aeliadutyfree.com), travelers can browse products online, place orders in advance, and collect purchases at a chosen airport store on departure or arrival. The platform supports customer accounts, shopping cart functionality, and a multi-country store locator spanning 30+ collection locations.

Product overview

Aelia is a duty-free retail e-commerce platform operating across multiple international airport locations. The platform allows travelers to purchase duty-free products (confectionery, alcohol, and specialty items) online and collect them at departure or arrival terminals. The single unified product consists of the Aelia Duty Free web platform available at aeliadutyfree.com, featuring customer account management, shopping cart functionality, and a store locator for airport collection points across Europe, Asia, America, and Oceania.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Aelia Duty Free E-Commerce Platform

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Gebr. Heinemann: Family-owned duty-free distributor and travel retailer with extensive airport and border-shop operations across Europe and beyond. Closely comparable hybrid wholesale-retail model and European airport footprint.
• Lotte Duty Free: Major Asian-headquartered duty-free retailer with a global airport store network and strong e-commerce pre-order platform. Comparable hybrid online + in-airport pickup model.
• Avolta (formerly Dufry): World's largest airport duty-free and travel-retail operator, running concession stores at major international airports globally. Directly comparable to Aelia in core business model, product mix, and travel-hub distribution.
• World Duty Free (WDF): Operates duty-free and duty-paid stores at major European airports with online pre-order. Direct match for Aelia's European-centric airport network and product categories.
• Lagardère Travel Retail: Operates one of the largest networks of duty-free and convenience stores in travel locations worldwide. Same airport duty-free business model, premium brand assortment, and multi-region footprint as Aelia.
• DFS Group (LVMH): Luxury-focused duty-free retailer operating airport stores and downtown locations globally. Comparable premium travel-retail positioning and product mix, including alcohol, fashion, and beauty.
• Dubai Duty Free: One of the largest single-airport duty-free operators in the world, anchored at Dubai International. Comparable product mix in alcohol, tobacco, and confectionery, and similar pre-order ecommerce capability.
• The Shilla Duty Free: Korean duty-free operator with airport and downtown stores, plus online pre-purchase functionality. Comparable travel-retail assortment and digital pre-order funnel.

Regional players

• Aldeasa (now Avolta): Spain/Portuguese-headquartered duty-free operator with airport stores. Comparable travel-retail product categories and Iberian/South-American footprint relevant to Aelia's Peru location.
• King Power International: Thai-headquartered duty-free operator with strong Asia-Pacific airport presence. Comparable core product mix in alcohol and confectionery, though primarily focused on Thailand hub airports.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aelia_2

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Aelia