Insult to retail to call Dublin Airport a ‘glorified’ department store

To be fair to Fianna Fáil senator Timmy Dooley, he didn’t actually tell DAA chief executive Dalton Philips at Wednesday’s Oireachtas transport committee hearing that he was running a “glorified department store”. He claimed Philips was “more interested” in operating one and “more interested in the retail offering” than the whole aviation part of the business.

The theory is understandable. Airports have always been inordinately proud of their retail “offerings”, basking in the upmarket image of any “luxury” names they manage to attract. Of course, most non-business passengers don’t want €300 sunglasses, they want a Penneys holiday shop conveniently located by their gate, but never mind. We’ll make do with some adequately chilled water, a giant bag of Haribo Starmix and perhaps the odd gift capable of surviving take-off in an overhead locker.

Philips, soon to depart for Greencore, came to DAA from retail. He is ex-Walmart, ex-Brown Thomas and ex-Morrisons, where he once found himself on the receiving end of public ire from the now late Ken Morrison, its former chairman and the son of the supermarket chain’s founder, who told its 2014 agm, “I have something like 1,000 bullocks and, having listened to your presentation, Dalton, you’ve got a lot more bullsh*t than me.”

Members of the Oireachtas transport committee were gentle with Philips by comparison. But notwithstanding the airport’s recent system failures, Dooley’s remark seems a bit of a stretch, if only because it would be an insult to department stores to conclude Dublin Airport was a “glorified” one.

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If Philips was more interested in its retail offering, wouldn’t it be better? These days, even the souvenir shops look like jaded facsimiles of their former selves. As for WH Smith, well, it’s not the finest of UK imports – in 2019, a survey by Which? magazine voted it the worst chain on the British high street, citing “cramped and messy” stores.

As the chaotic non-processing of passengers shows, airports are bearing the scars of the pandemic in every corner. The underwhelming retail experience, for those who make it airside with time for more than a frantic toilet stop, is no exception. Anyone attempting to travel out of Dublin Airport this summer can avoid disappointment by stocking up on reading material and Tic Tacs in advance, then lowering any remaining expectations. If your flight takes off with you on it, you’ll be doing well.