THE WHAT? Lotte Duty Free has lost out in the first round of assessment of bids for the operational rights of duty-free shops at Incheon Airport, according to the Korea Herald. 

THE DETAILS Rivals Hotel Shilla, Shinsegae DF and Hyundai Department Store Duty Free were instead shortlisted for the licensing bid for the five duty-free zones in the airport. 

Due to the result Lotte is withdrawing its business from the airport for the first time since it opened in 2001. 

THE WHY? According to industry insiders Lotte’s partial withdrawal of its business in 2018 was part of the reason it lost out in the bidding process, with the company voluntarily withdrawing some stores to only operate in DF 3.