(28-Feb-2003) Franco-Spanish tobacco supplier announced strong growth in 2002, with profit up 14.5% to ?435m ($473m) despite a difficult duty-free trading environment

(28-Feb-2003) The International Association of Airport Duty Free Stores (IAADFS) has said that US duty-free operators face tighter controls on the import of bonded goods for sale in their stores

(28-Feb-2003) Aldeasa, the Madrid-based duty-free and travel-retail operator, has announced 2002 net profits of ?22.1m ($24m), down 12.4 % on the previous 12 months

(26-Feb-2003) Schiphol Group has posted a net profit of ?141m ($153m) for 2002, compared with ?191m ($208m) in 2001

(26-Feb-2003) According to local reports, Swiss operator Weitnauer Group of Companies has opened a 240sq m (2,582sq ft) outlet at Menara airport in Marrakech

(25-Feb-2003) Birmingham International airport has awarded Alpha Retail first prize in the BIA Concession Business Awards 2002 for outstanding sales growth and customer service in the company's Perfume Shop in terminal two

(25-Feb-2003) Tourvest Investment Corporation has announced strong interim results for its retail operation, including its inflight duty-free business, despite margin erosion caused by the strong South African rand

(25-Feb-2003) UK-based FlightStore, provider of seatback intranet services for airlines, has struck a deal with Continental Airlines that allows passengers to browse, book and buy goods and services through their seatback systems

(22-Feb-2003) Operators on Canada's land border saw total sales rise by 12.7% in 2002 compared to 2001, as retail revenues hit C$225.8m ($144.7m)

(22-Feb-2003) DFS Group has made several appointments to key positions

(19-Feb-2003) Qatar Airways is to add eight new aircraft to its fleet in 2003, despite uncertainty about possible war with Iraq and concern about the aviation market in the Middle East

(18-Feb-2003) Hellenic Duty Free Shops' (HDFS) majority shareholder has accepted a bid for 40% of the retailer from Greek jewellery supplier Folli Follie

(18-Feb-2003) Four duty-paid retailers opened at Bucharest Otopeni International airport last week, with tenders for another six outlets, selling duty-paid electronics, confectionery, cosmetics and fragrances, to be held in the second half of February

(18-Feb-2003) Helen Tam, Camus International's area director based in Hong Kong, is to retire at the end of this month after over 20 years with the company

(18-Feb-2003) Melbourne International airport has seen a 74% rise in retail revenues since the airport's privatisation in 1997, according to authority Australia Pacific Airport Corporation

(15-Feb-2003) Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 (AA2000) and InterBaires, airport operator and duty-free concessionaire in the principal airports in Argentina are locked in a legal dispute over the future of InterBaires' duty-free business in the country

(15-Feb-2003) Nuance-Watson (HK) has been awarded the concession for four pharmacies/personal care shops at Hong Kong International airport

(15-Feb-2003) Osaka Kansai International airport operator Taihoh Global is to merge with its sister company Kansai International Airport Industry Co (KAI), effective from March 1

(14-Feb-2003) The China National Tourism Administration has said that the increase in foreign arrivals last year was helped by the global downturn in tourism elsewhere, as the fear of terrorist attack dissuaded visitors to other destinations

(14-Feb-2003) Phase one of the ambitious expansion by Phoenicia-Aer Rianta (PAC) at Beirut International airport is complete with the opening of two new arrivals duty-free shops which cover 440sq m (4,734sq ft) in total

(13-Feb-2003) **DFNI EXCLUSIVE** Spanish duty-free and travel-retail operator and UK-based food service specialist Compass Group have joined forces to develop speciality branded restaurants in Spanish airports

(13-Feb-2003) Tax Free World Association and Airports Council International have postponed the Gate One exhibition, scheduled for May 2003

(13-Feb-2003) Nuance-Watson has won the general merchandise concession for a second five-year term at Hong Kong International Airport

(13-Feb-2003) Greek operator Hellenic Duty Free shops has announced improved sales of E10.7m ($11.4m) in January - a 19% increase on the same month last year, further improving the outlook for the company

(12-Feb-2003) Gulf Air has launched a new inflight duty-free programme which includes exclusive sunglasses, confectionery, skincare products, watches and cufflinks, as well as a comprehensive range of cosmetics and fragrances, jewellery, electrical gifts and toys

(11-Feb-2003) British Airways has announced a pre-tax profit of £355m ($571.6m) for the nine months to December 31

(11-Feb-2003) The International Air Transport Association(IATA) welcomed 2002 international traffic results as a sign of recovery, with an increase of 0.06% in passenger traffic over 2001 despite a 4.3% drop in passenger capacity

(11-Feb-2003) Sharjah has announced the creation of a new airline, Air Arabia

(8-Feb-2003) Brazil's top two airlines, Varig and Tam, may merge as they seek to reduce heavy debts and survive the tough trading environment

(8-Feb-2003) Tax Free World Association has announced that the Rt Hon Mike Moore, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and until August director-general of the World Trade Organisation, will be the keynote speaker at the TFWA Asia Pacific conference on Tuesday May 20 in Singapore

(8-Feb-2003) The Taiwanese cabinet is considering new legislation that will exempt foreign visitors from paying the five percent business tax on purchases made within the country

(6-Feb-2003) Alpha Airports Group's latest trading update reports a rise in duty- and tax-free sales of 11% in the year to January 31, compared to the previous year

(5-Feb-2003) **TRW EXCLUSIVE** Hartsfield Atlanta International airport has awarded HMSHost the contract to operate 10 duty-paid concessions at its international terminal, concourse three, and has revealed that it will shortly make a decision between Duty Free Americas (DFA) and Duty Free Air & Ship Supply (DFASS) in its long-awaited duty-free tender

(5-Feb-2003) Dubai Duty Free's (DDF) record-breaking sales run has continued into 2003, with January sales up 33% on the same month last year, at Dh108.4m ($30.1m)

(5-Feb-2003) As it nears the end of what it hopes will be a successful campaign to ban duty-free tobacco sales, the World Health Organization (WHO) has turned its attentions to the liquor category

(4-Feb-2003) The Port of Seattle is to offer leases for 10 local retailers and restaurateurs in the airport's new Pacific Marketplace, to be located in the airport's renovated central terminal

(4-Feb-2003) Istanbul Duty Free (IDF) has been chosen as the sole duty-free operator at the Turgutreis Marina, 20km away from Bodrum in Turkey

(4-Feb-2003) Beirut Duty Free is to introduce music, video and electronic games retailer Virgin into its newly expanded retail area at Beirut International airport

(4-Feb-2003) **TRW EXCLUSIVE** The Icelandic Competition Authority (ICA) has ruled that Keflavik airport landlord and principal operator Leifur Eiriksson Airport has abused its position to give itself an advantage over other operators during the airport's current tender process

(4-Feb-2003) A fifth runway is to open at Amsterdam Schiphol airport on February 20, cementing the location's status as a key European hub

(4-Feb-2003) BAA has announced encouraging results for the third quarter 2002-2003

(1-Feb-2003) China's largest airline, China Southern, has stepped up its inflight retail offering with a new range of products available in its latest catalogue

(1-Feb-2003) Greek operator Hellenic Duty Free Shops has announced that profits for the year 2002 grew by over a third from the previous year

(1-Feb-2003) BAA has welcomed the Civil Aviation Authority's (CAA) final decision on airport charges at its UK facilities for the next five years, saying the new price control formula 'endorses the company's business plan'.

(1-Feb-2003) Earlier this week, thieves in San Francisco held up one of concessionaire Inflight Sales Group's (ISG) trucks delivering duty-free merchandise to the international airport and robbed the truck and its contents at gunpoint