Sir, - As a resident of Germany, my eye was caught by the front-page headline in The Irish Times On The Web (December 2nd): "Germans support another five years of duty-free." I have just returned from one of my regular trips to Dublin, and while passing through Dublin airport I saw the many signs exhorting the retention of duty-free shopping within the EU. Aer Rianta presumably erects these signs and it's hardly a wonder - its profit on duty-free goods must be enormous, if one example I noticed is anything to go by.
A one-litre bottle of Bailey's cream liqueur in Dublin Airport's duty-free shop costs £11.99. Just a few days earlier I bought a 0.75 litre bottle of the same drink in a local supermarket for a little over £5, excluding VAT. Some simple arithmetic leads to a price per litre of £6.87 and the conclusion that Aer Rianta's gross margin on this item is approaching 50 per cent - I presume that there is some level of excise duty on this product in Germany, and that Aer Rianta buys Baileys at a better price than a German supermarket. (They surely shift a little more Bailey's and transport costs to Dublin Airport from the Naas Road are somewhat less than the corresponding costs to Germany.)
With profit margins like these, it's hardly a wonder that Aer Rianta is clamouring for duty-free retention. - Is mise, Niall O Broin,