A consortium headed by the Lai Sun Group and the New World Group has won the lucrative rights to sell duty-free liquor and tobacco at Chek Lap Kok airport.
The deal is a setback for the Hong Kong-built industry giant, Duty Free Shoppers (DFS).
The Lai Sun and New World joint venture, known as Sky Connection, won the licence amid fierce bidding from a strong field of local and international competitors.
Irish-backed Aer Rianta International (East Asia) provided technical assistance to Sky Connection's bid and says it will be running the duty-free operations for Lai Sun and New World.
Aer Rianta director general Eammonn Foley said last night he expected the operations to generate total average sales of $2 billion a year.
The bidding field included DFS China Partners - a venture majority-owned by DFS and involving two major Chinese companies.