UK gateside deliveries by today says WDF

James Featherstone

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Gateside deliveries of duty free goods will be in place at all UK airports "by Monday and Tuesday" of this week, according to World Duty Free and BAA

Speaking to Raven Fox, Mark Riches, managing director of World Duty Free and Colin Hargrave, BAA"s retail director said that much of the confusion and chaos caused by last Thursday's security threat has been brought under control and several measures were now in place dealing with the upset.

"We've done one or two things to enable North American customers to purchase," said Riches. "Crucially, we are on track in arranging gate deliveries. We've had conversations with the DFT (Department for Transport) and the TSA (Transportation Security Administration), on a gateside service, and we should have it in place at all our airports by early next week."

The duty free industry should recover well from the current upset, he said, but would not be launching legal claims against the government. " We are entirely focused on our business, and on the safety and security of passengers," said Colin Hargrave of BAA.

Speaking of recent suggestions that the European Union might decide to outlaw all liquids from flights, Riches said: "You always get one or two zealots suggesting these things, but common sense usually prevails. You can't end a service that such a large number of people want."

Press reports on Thursday morning suggested that several UK airlines were threatening legal action against the government for loss of revenue. A clause in the Trasport Act 2000 appears to leave the way open for compensation claims subsequent to security restrictions being put in place by the government.

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