It was one of Irelands greatest inventions, it offer the fodder for Christy Moore songs and it was the subject of a long battle with the EU. In 1947 Shannon airport opened the worlds first Duty Free shop. A real stroke of genius that is now the norm across the world. Everyone coming back from abroad has to come back with plentiful supplies of fags and booze for the people at home. Even though the EU banned duty free shops between member states the Travel Value shops still were busy. But in one day today all this is gone.
Due to the terror alerts people are forbidden from bringing any materials onto the planes everything has be checked in. Now as duty free is passed the check in area this means that unless people can have a separate Duty Free check in. They will be unable to buy anything in Duty free, other then food that they consume prior to getting on the plane. Sales of Whiskey, Cigarettes, electronics will all be gone.
How many jobs will lost due to this is still unclear but could be many. Will the airports install checks prior to duty free? This attack may have more effect on aviation then 9/11.
Also I heard a guy talking on Morning Ireland talking about his start-up business creating systems to allow people to make mobile calls on aircraft. I guess this business is dead now. The terrorist have certainly won something here, as they have made us change.
1 comment:
I doubt that duty free will be affected by this. I travelled from Dublin to New York yesterday morning and all the passengers on my flight had to check their duty free bags in at the boarding desk. It was all very impromptu and improvised (the announcement from Homeland Security just came through as we were boarding) but it worked out. And those people carrying other liquid items like makeup and shampoos were able to do the same, put them in a plastic bag and check them in; you got a tag with your name and number scribbled on it, and at JFK, the (surly, but who can blame them) airport staff handed the bags back. Once they make this system formal, it should work out fine. So duty free will stay, I'd imagine.
Post a Comment