EU to tackle huge fall in airport duty free sales

PLUMMETING sales at airport duty free shops will be on the agenda for the EU-US summit next month, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has promised.

Duty free outlets at airports are facing crisis with sales falling by up to 40% in some cases because of the stringent security rules on bringing liquids on board.

Irish MEPs and a representative of duty free shops met Mr Barroso yesterday, explained the problems facing companies like Aer Rianta and asked him to act.

Fianna Fáil MEP Brian Crowley said part of the problem is that countries do not recognise one another’s security systems and so duty free allowed on board in the US is confiscated if the passenger is on an internal EU flight. For example, if you fly from New York to Paris and then onto Shannon in Ireland, your duty-free liquids will be taken off you in Paris, said Mr Crowley.

Huge quantities of duty free are being confiscated from airline passengers every day and the problem is set to grow with more countries introducing limits later this month.

Mr Barroso said the EU will work to have a bilateral agreement with the US to allow airline passengers to keep their duty free at either end of their journey. He told Mr Crowley he would put the issue on the agenda of the summit in Washington with US President George Bush on April 30.

The scale of the confiscations at European airports alone is enormous — 300 tonnes of liquids at Frankfurt airport, 145 tonnes at Schiphol, Amsterdam, and 110 tonnes at Zurich since the regulations were introduced four months ago. “These figures are replicated at small and medium sized airports all over Europe and with the summer travelling season now nearly upon us, it is set to get worse”, said the Cork MEP.

Frank O’Connell, president of the European Travel Retail Council, said the future of the duty free industry is in danger if changes are not made.