Emirates duty-free chief calls for abolition of listing fees

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Emirates Airlines manager duty-free sales John Sime has called for the abolition of listing fees for duty-free products as they are holding back growth in the inflight market

Speaking at the Middle East Duty Free Conference in Dubai last month, he said that too many carriers still fail to see onboard duty-free from a retailer's point of view.
Instead, far too many see duty-free from the viewpoint of airlines that happen to sell duty-free or even as brochure publishers.
"This viewpoint then isolates suppliers who then hike up their prices to cover exorbitant listing fees," he said.

He said the relationship between supplier and airline needs to change to break the cycle of annual listing negotiations that fail to serve the customer.
"As airlines we need to invest in incentives with our suppliers and step outside the comfort zone when it comes to brochures, our most valuable marketing tools. I suggest abolishing listing fees. We should be targeting growth through volume sales, increasing margins but with incentives attached for suppliers. We need a new scenario. We should be rewarded by suppliers for our performance, and we can then invest in the business and drive sales forward."

He also questioned the concept of regional pricing. "The costs of manufacturing are the same to suppliers so why set prices differently in different regions? We need to start pricing from the cost up, not from the retail price down."