Business leaders, employers and trade unionists have united to condemn the Danish decision to veto any deferment of the abolition of EU duty-free sales beyond the June 30th deadline.
Duty-free sales provide an estimated 4,000 jobs in the Irish economy and generate £105 million for Aer Rianta alone at Irish airports.
From July 1st, people travelling between EU states will no longer be able to buy duty-free. That facility will be restricted to those travelling outside the Union.
An Aer Rianta spokeswoman said yesterday both management and staff were deeply disappointed because of the efforts they had made to save duty-free over the past year. It was estimated that the abolition of duty-free would see Aer Rianta profits cut from £48 million a year to £30 million, and could see the loss of 400 jobs out of the company's 3,100-strong workforce.
ACI Europe (Airports Council International) predicted that the move would lead to the loss of between 60,000 and 140,000 jobs.
The abolition is not expected to have any immediate impact on air fares. Ryanair said the company had been preparing for it for some time. It had initiatives in place to ensure that cabin crew, who earn up to a third of their income from commission on duty-free sales, would not suffer.
Aer Lingus and other carriers are also understood to have factored in the anticipated loss of duty-free sales to fares. However, it remains to be seen what impact any increase in landing charges by airport authorities will have on airlines.
Cork-Swansea Ferries said a 15 per cent increase in fares would result from yesterday's decision. However, larger carriers, such as Irish Ferries and Stena Sealink, have factored the expected abolition of duty-free into their fares schedule for this year.
An Irish Ferries spokesman said their fares had been increased by about 10 per cent and the company was not anticipating problems. It was pressing ahead with the commissioning of the £29 million Jonathan Swift on the Dublin-Holyhead run from June 15th.
The president of SIPTU, Mr Jimmy Somers, said: "The onus is now on the Government to ensure that the employment of all those affected by the decision is fully protected, particularly in view of the concerns expressed at the Cologne summit on employment".
The chairman of the International Duty Free Confederation, Mr Frank O'Connell, said the EU would have to provide "immediate allocation of the promised Community funding to alleviate the social problems which will become apparent within days.
"This is particularly relevant to Irish airports like Knock, Kerry and Waterford and to ferry ports like Cork, Rosslare and Dublin." He also predicted "a deluge of legal challenges" to the decision.