Emirates Airlines to reintroduce liquor and tobacco

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Leading Gulf carrier Emirates is planning to reintroduce liquor and tobacco to its inflight programme on selected routes in the coming months

The company delisted all liquor and tobacco products about four years ago.

Emirates manager duty-free sales John Sime said there was a growing demand on routes to the Indian sub-continent for brands such as Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky and Marlboro cigarettes.

He said: "When we removed tobacco we were making about one dollar for every 200 cigarettes sold, which isn't much considering the space they take up. We're negotiating with suppliers now and talking about margin and differentiated packaging on certain key routes."