Hotel Shilla, which operates The Shilla Duty Free, has filed a lawsuit seeking the return of unjust enrichment worth more than 100 billion won against Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC). It is seeking the return of part of the penalty, saying the fee paid when it returned the Incheon Airport duty-free concession was excessive.
According to the industry on the 11th, Hotel Shilla filed a lawsuit on the 20th of last month against Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) to claim the return of unjust enrichment totaling 106.5 billion won. Hotel Shilla said, "The penalty was excessive, so we claimed a partial refund."
The dispute traces back to the 2023 selection process for duty-free operators at Incheon Airport. At the time, The Shilla Duty Free, operated by Hotel Shilla, secured the DF1 zone concession handling cosmetics, perfume, liquor, and tobacco.
The Shilla Duty Free won the concession by bidding 8,987 won for the per-passenger fee, the basis for calculating rent, which was 160% higher than the minimum acceptable amount presented by Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC). The contract period was 10 years, from 2023 to 2033.
However, after the contract, rent burdens higher than expected persisted, intensifying the conflict between the two sides. Hotel Shilla said the monthly rent of about 30 billion won was a burden and that losses were accumulating the longer it operated, and it requested a rent adjustment.
In contrast, Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) did not accept the request for a rent cut, citing fairness issues with other operators and concerns about breach of duty. It maintained that it was difficult to adjust contract terms individually even as the duty-free market recovered slowly.
Last year, in response to Hotel Shilla's application for mediation, the court proposed a compulsory plan to cut rent by 25%, but final agreement was not reached after Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) raised an objection.
In the end, Hotel Shilla returned the DF1 zone concession at Incheon Airport last year and decided to withdraw. The contract period, which had been scheduled through June 2033, effectively ended in about two years.
Afterward, Hotel Shilla paid more than 190 billion won in penalties for termination and withdrew from Incheon Airport. The current lawsuit seeks to recover part of the penalty paid in that process.
Meanwhile, in the DF1 zone at Incheon Airport vacated by The Shilla Duty Free, Lotte Duty Free secured the concession earlier this year and is operating it.