Runway robbery

DUTY-FREE shopping at the airport used to be something most Britons liked as it saved them money. Yet airports are now exploiting their captive market—those trapped between security and the boarding gates—to lure people to spend as much as possible in shops. And in a scam publicised this month, they turn out to be ripping their customers off as well. Rather than passing the 20% saved in VAT to shoppers with a boarding card to somewhere outside the European Union, many airport retailers have been charging the same price for all and pocketing the tax rebate themselves. The revelation prompted a public backlash, with many people refusing to show boarding cards at the cash till. David Gauke, a treasury minister, declared that the VAT rebate should be passed to consumers, not kept by airport concessions.

Dual pricing for EU and non-EU travellers could be introduced to ensure this, but retailers and airports are resisting the idea. Instead they are trying to rake in ever more from their passengers. Many airports now charge for services that used to be free, or have invented new ones, to boost revenues. No fewer than 18 of Britain’s 24 busiest airports now charge drivers to drop off passengers at their terminals. Before 2009, none did. Luton airport, the first to introduce so-called “kiss and drop” fees, has taken this no-frills model to extremes. There, it costs a minimum of £2.50 ($3.90) to drop off passengers outside the terminal, £2 to hire a baggage trolley, £1 to weigh each bag, £5 to skip the security queue, and up to £20 to have luggage wrapped before travel. Similar charges are being introduced elsewhere: Blackpool airport even introduced a compulsory £10 check-in charge.