Add to Favorite
Magazine 
Magazine
Features
Welcome to the first in a new series of DFNI features: regular in-depth interviews with top travel-retail decision-makers.The series starts with an insight into World Duty Free?s business, through the eyes of ceo Mark Riches.
In a thought-provoking presentation in Dubai in December, Emirates duty-free sales manager John Sime called for the industry-wide abolition of listing fees, one of the most controversial elements of many airline retail contracts.
Duty-free sales manager John Sime says the carrier is looking at a number of initiatives to better target the nationalities which travel with Emirates.
The advent of low-cost air travel has had a dramatic impact at UK airports and London Luton is no exception. The challenge for retailers is to adapt their offer to suit a changing passenger profile and rapidly rising numbers. Jonathan Brown reports.
Germany?s faltering economy is affecting air travel just as much as any threat of war. But fortunately the timely emergence of the low-cost carrier business is taking the harsh chill off the aviation climate, as Kevin Rozario reports.
Frankfurt International airport has largely steered clear of the low-cost market, with just buzz using its facilities. Airport operator Fraport has, instead, developed its 73%-owned Frankfurt Hahn airport to suit this business.
The European operators who viewed the sudden interest in wine a few years ago as a short-term phenomenon have been proved wrong, says John RImmer.
Allied Domecq Duty Free is confident that its new wines division, formed last autumn will make it a force to be reckoned with.
Duty-free is all about brands, or so the cliché goes. But it is also all about newness, discovery and differentiation. And niche brands have a crucial role to play.
Now secure in the knowledge that it has won the contract to partner airport authority Aéroports de Paris to operate stores across six terminals at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, Aelia is pressing ahead with its plans to revolutionise retail at the location.
Judging by its distribution levels in travel-retail, Underberg is the Johnnie Walker of the ?others? category.
One of the world?s biggest liquor brands has just got bigger. Absolut Vodka is building on the popularity of flavoured spirits with the creation of Vanilia, its first launch since 1999. John Rimmer went to Sweden to find out more.
The Middle East Duty Free Conference, held in Dubai on December 16?17, set a new standard, with most of the region?s retailers and many leading suppliers taking part. DFNI presents the highlights.
In one of the event?s liveliest sessions, Alpha Retail regional managing director Paul Topping discussed the great potential of India in duty-free.
One of the highlights of the industry?s social calendar, the Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup, took place on the eve of the Middle East conference.
Retail News Analysis
TRI Exclusive: By Adele WolstenhulmeSINGAPORE. The Nuance Group in cooperation with local partner Watson and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore have agreed a new central site for a 500sq m (5,400sq ft) fragrances and cosmetics store in Singapore Changi airport terminal two.
Exclusive: By Dermot DavittWorld Duty Free is to create a radical new look for the liquor category at London Heathrow terminal four with a 7,000sq ft (650sq m) store, to be completed by autumn 2003.
China Duty Free Group?s operations department is contacting suppliers seeking support for the new airport duty-free shop at Xian, location of the famous Terracotta Warriors and one of the country?s leading tourist destinations.
AUSTRALASIA. Sydney Airports Corp has appointed URS Corp?s Australian airport consultancy arm Australian Airports & Aviation Practice to prepare a master plan for the international terminal at Sydney airport.
As eastern European countries and the Baltic states prepare to enter the EU, the region?s retailers will have a vibrant forum for discussion at this year?s Baltic and East European Travel-Retail Conference.
CHINA. The number of Chinese nationals travelling abroad this year is set to rise by 15% as more European countries grant tourist visas.
National airline LanChile has appointed Inflight Sales Group as its exclusive supplier of fragrances, cosmetics and liquor products for its duty-free programme from February 12.
BELARUS. Belarussian duty-free operator Somlen, supplied exclusively by Gebr Heinemann, has opened a new self-service store in Minsk airport's departures area
UK. Manchester airport has launched a £5.5m ($8.9m) overhaul of its commercial areas ahead of the summer 2003 season, with terminal one central to the scheme.
US. Luxury goods group LVMH Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton said last week it was selling its Hard Candy and Urban Decay make-up brands to the Falic Group, owner of Duty Free Americas.
ARGENTINA. Following a short break coinciding with the southern hemisphere summer, Argentinian duty-free operator InterBaires and privatised airport operator Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 are back at the negotiating table.
UK. Charter airline Britannia Airways has launched a new inflight sales magazine and is bullish about prospects for the year ahead, despite the downturn in the aviation market.
TAIWAN. A 50-year ban on direct flights across the Formosa Strait between Taiwan and mainland China officially ended on January 26 when a chartered China Airlines plane flew from Taipei to Shanghai Pudong airport.
Exclusive: By Anna FentonNuance-Watson (HK) and DFS Group have each won six of the 25 luxury brand boutique contracts at Hong Kong International airport.
The new Fort Lauderdale location for the Duty Free Show of the Americas will prove more cost-effective for delegates once the event moves in 2005, organiser International Association of Airport Duty Free Stores (IAADFS) has said.
Exclusive: By John RimmerAéroports de Paris has chosen French travel retailer Aelia as its partner in the joint-venture company to operate retail at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport terminal two.
Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton (LVMH) has announced consolidated sales in 2002 of Eur12.7bn ($13.5bn), a rise of 4% over 2001 following accelerated growth in the final quarter.
Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, operator of Cancún airport and eight others in southeast Mexico, has announced a 44% increase in duty-free sales for the year ended December 31.