Aer Rianta International says Delhi Duty Free at Indira Gandhi International Airport is right on target to hit around $150m in sales in 2014.

 

This is expected to trump the $120m achieved in 2013 $120m, according to CEO Jack MacGowan. Talking to TRBusiness in Dublin earlier his month he said: “From $40m it’s nearly quadrupled in four years since we took it over.

 

“I think it was 2010 when it opened, so in my view it’s one of our great examples of where we focus on giving consumers what they want – that’s the space they want, much better trained staff, and ranges that are not driven by buyers and gross margins.”

 

MacGowan (inset, below) says a good but simple part of the big success in Delhi comes from sourcing the exact brands for brand conscious Indians, whether it’s Johnnie Walker Black Label, Passport, or Johnnie Walker Red Label.

 

He says that Delhi Duty Free also offers ranges and doesn’t try to fob customers off with brands they don’t want.

 

AIM IS TO DOUBLE SALES by 2019

“We don’t just say you can have one of those…” said MacGowan. “The issue for us is how do we continue to make that business system profitable if other competitors are cutting out major choice for consumers?

 

“Delhi is something I’m really proud of. It was Eamon Foley [previous CEO-Ed] who was in place when that happened and he did a fantastic job on it, but sales per passenger have been a phenomenal success – particularly in the last two years.

 

“We’re looking at the turnover in Delhi and we want to double that in the next four or five years and we’re looking at radical ways in which we can change that shop and bring in new things – so we can double that spend.

 

“We’ll get a bit from passenger growth, but a lot of it’s spend per passenger,” said ARI’s MacGowan.