Australia’s leading flagship carrier Qantas is to cease operating its traditional inflight duty free programme at the end of this month, following a decision by the airline management to explore other options.

 

The onboard and pre-order ‘In Sky Shopping programme’ is currently managed by Alpha Flight Services and Alpha Flight Services Manager Duty Free Lenelle Williams confirmed the news to TRBusiness today.

 

‘REALIGNING RETAIL CHANNELS…’

This will involve the programme being withdrawn at the end of this month – although the airline’s suppliers are understood to have been informed of the change.

 

Commenting to TRBusiness in an exclusive but brief written statement, Lenelle Williams said: “I can confirm that Qantas have made the decision to discontinue their traditional offering of inflight duty free and are taking the opportunity to realign their retail channels in response to changes in customer demand and retail-buying patterns.

 
“The offering of In Sky Shopping Duty Free will cease from 1st January 2018, with the last flight departing the Australian ports on 31st December 2017.”

 
As many suppliers are well aware, Qantas – the world’s second oldest established passenger airline – has a rich history of offering ‘chairside’ inflight duty free to its passengers.

 

 

A LONG ASSOCIATION WITH DUTY FREE…

The airline previously operated this programme in-house for many, many years and most latterly with Alpha Flight Services, based out of Mascot in Sydney.

 

The two partners produced a very well presented 72-page ‘In Sky Shopping’ catalogue, carrying a wide range of goods within its duty free offer, including jewellery and fashion accessories, watches, fragrances and beauty items, electronics and travel accessories, Qantas items, wines and spirits and a pre-order showcase.

 

The last edition of this catalogue that TRBusiness was able to access (August-October 2017 edition) also offered a comprehensive pre-order service, plus exclusive items not available in the normal selection, plus ‘a buy before you fly’ offer, alongside various ways for Frequent Flyers to earn points rewards.