Fliers few and buyers fewer

Duty-free shopping at Kolkata airport has been grounded with several international airlines taking flight just a year after two stores brought Dior and Davidoff to town without any tax baggage.

“Stores across all airports have suffered a 20-25 per cent decline in sales because of the global downturn. Our Kolkata unit has taken a bigger hit — around 30 per cent,” said P.K. Thimmayya, the vice-president of Dubai-based Flemingo International that runs two duty-free stores at the city airport.

Gulf Air and British Airways flew out last month and a couple of airlines that were to start flights have postponed their plans. For Flemingo, which opened shop in the city in March 2008, that has been a bigger blow than the downturn. “Where are the passengers? We can do decent business only if international traffic is high. In Kolkata, traffic is declining,” said an official.

The company recently approached the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for a “concession” on rent and a deferred payment schedule to tide over the crisis. It presently occupies 1,300sq ft of space in the departure and arrival lounges and another 300sq ft for storage.

“We have been receiving similar requests from other stores at the airport. These have been forwarded to our headquarters in Delhi,” airport director V.K. Monga said.

Although sales are down, Flemingo hasn’t yet cut down on the number of brands. From premium perfumes and jewellery to single malts, the brand basket at Kolkata airport is the biggest and brightest in years.

The company had planned to add lifestyle gizmos to its array of products but has put the expansion on hold.

“People are flying less, and those who are travelling are not purchasing from duty-free shops as much as they used to,” explained Thimmayya.

Flemingo, however, does not intend curtailing the supply of its existing range of products because sales have declined over the past few months.

“A store hub has been set up in Chennai from where products are distributed to centres according to the requirement,” a company official said.

According to an AAI survey, there was a two to three per cent decline in international traffic from Kolkata last year. “The next survey will surely show a bigger decline now that British Airways and Gulf Air have withdrawn,” an official said.

He said inbound passengers in recent months included people who had lost jobs abroad and were returning home. “They can’t be expected to be in the mood for shopping, can they?”

Apart from the two duty-free stores, the international terminal has shops selling branded garments, eateries and moneychangers.


Sanjay Mandal, The Telegraph Metro