British Airways has said it is considering stopping its inflight duty-free service on short-haul flights.
“There is limited take-up of duty free shopping on short-haul flights so we are reviewing whether the space needed to store products could be put to better use,” the airline told The Moodie Davitt Report. The inflight service is provided by Tourvest Inflight Retail Services, which won the short haul concession in September 2016.
Tourvest Inflight Retail Services supplies and manages British Airways’ duty-free service worldwide, a contract it has held since January 2012. The concessionaire also gained the airline’s short-haul food and beverage contract in September 2016.
“Given the changing face of customer retail trends, Tourvest Inflight Retail Services constantly reviews its retail strategy and the way we position our inflight duty-free offering,” Michelle Green, Head of Business Development, Strategy & Innovation at Tourvest, told the Report.
“Going forward we see digital engagement and pre-order streams growing and are working with all of our customers on an e-commerce digital strategy for their onboard retail programmes.”