Duty free will change direction – Kommersant FM

The sale of alcohol on domestic flights may be approved as early as March 2024. Then, as expected, State Duma deputies will consider the bill. We are talking about the sale of alcohol in the waiting area and baggage claim areas at airports. The explanatory note to the document states that the innovation will support airport operators, as well as duty free stores, which have suffered serious losses due to the pandemic and sanctions.

From 2019 to March 2023, the number of duty-free shops decreased by 20%, recalls First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy Nikolai Arefyev: “Passenger traffic has decreased, which means both consumption and use of airport infrastructure have also decreased, but also the airport that takes rent, and the shops and restaurants that are there need to exist somehow. We are all already used to the fact that they work, and it is convenient, although everything there is much more expensive than in city stores.

If we talk about domestic flights, alcohol will be sold with VAT and other taxes. In addition, there will be a trade margin that will be accumulated to pay for the rent of the premises. People try, if they are flying back from a trip or a business trip by plane, to buy some kind of gift for their loved ones.

For example, in the region I once wanted to buy a bottle of cognac to give to a friend. There was cognac for only 500-600 rubles, I understand that it is cheap, but I also understand that it is not cognac. I don’t think that selling alcohol at the airport is a story about drunkenness, especially since drinking alcohol you bring with you is prohibited on the plane.”

But how popular will alcohol sales be on domestic flights? Such measures will indeed support business, but the effect will not be immediate, says Mikhail Burmistrov, head of the Infoline-Analytics company: “There may be some interest, especially when flying from Moscow or St. Petersburg to remote regions where a slightly more limited range of alcohol is available.

In addition, this decision creates additional potential for duty free stores to develop the alcohol category. At the very least, this can provide additional interest in terms of interaction with producers and suppliers of alcohol, the launch of some new products, etc. In this regard, airports can also be a good platform for promoting products.

I think that at the initial stage we will talk about units of interest and the potential that can be realized. When there is wider awareness that such an option is available, of course, the possibilities will be somewhat higher. Here we can talk about an increase in sales by 10-15%, but this will not happen earlier than six months after the launch.”

In March 2022, duty-free shops at airports asked for government help, noting that due to a sharp drop in international passenger traffic they were in a critical situation. In June of the same year, the State Duma adopted a law allowing the sale of duty-free goods to passengers flying to the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union from Russia. At the same time, airport owners appealed to the authorities with a request to allow duty free shops to open for passengers on domestic flights by the end of 2023.

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Dennis Bespalov