Introducing duty-free shopping for arriving passengers would make the UK’s aviation and tourism scene more competitive internationally, according to the boss of Gatwick Airport. In an interview with City A.M.
, Stewart Wingate, who has led Britain’s second largest airport for over a decade, said: “One of the things we continue to lobby the government on is why we don’t take advantage now that we are outside of the EU and offer that product to passengers arriving into Gatwick or the other UK airports.” More than 60 countries around the world have implemented arrivals duty free, including nations in Asia, the Middle East and Oceania. In the UK, the government substantially increased inbound duty free allowances after the UK left the European Union but passengers are still not able to purchase products on arrival at duty-free prices in British airports.
The Gatwick boss said introducing duty-free arrivals would make the UK more competitive against international rivals and stimulate jobs in the retail sector, while having little to no impact on domestic sales. “If you would go to let’s say, Oslo airport, when you arrive into Oslo airport, as you go through the reclaim areas, there’s the ability to buy duty free products at that point on your journey,” Wingate argued. “Now that we’re not in the EU, it would strike us that one of the freedoms and one of the opportunities that we have, if we so choose, is to do likewise.
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