THE chief executives of moot European airports are to meet in Dublin tomorrow to consider the threat posed by the proposed abolition of duty free sales within the EU from 1999. Duty free sales account for about 50 per cent of the turnover and profits of Aer Rianta, the manager of Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports.
The International Duty Free Confederation will meet in the K Club, Straffan, Co Kildare, as guests of Aer Rianta. The chairman of the confederation is Mr Frank O'Connell, commercial manager of Aer Rianta.
The leader of the Fianna Fail group in the European Parliament, Mr Gerry Collins, said yesterday it would oppose the attempt to abolish duty free sales before 1999. The move represented a serious threat to Shannon Airport, Mr Collins added, and the other Munster airports at Cork, Kerry and Waterford.
According to Mr Collins, "with my Fianna Fail colleagues, I will be working to ensure the amendment seeking the abolition of duty free sales is decisively rejected by the Parliament on July 14th when the vote takes place". He said duty free sales were a key element in the viability of regional airports.
Duty free sales at Dublin have an annual turnover of £60 million. The figure for Shannon is £12 million. The proposed measure would cut this figure by half, as duty free sales to US citizens would not be affected. The annual turnover at Cork is £5 million. All of this would be at risk as the sales are exclusively to people travelling within the EU.
The issue is also of considerable importance to Ryanair, where duty free sales make a major contribution to its profits.
Aer Rianta's problem is that other European airports are not so dependent on duty free sales for profits.