The three major airports in Northern Ireland have joined forces to urge the return of duty free for flights to the EU.
Duty free shopping from British mainland airports was extended to include EU destinations from January 2021 following Brexit. But the facility was not extended to Northern Ireland’s airports.
Now Belfast International, Belfast City and the City of Derry airports have called on the UK government and EU to restore duty free shopping for passengers travelling to the bloc.
They claim the restriction on tax-free sales has already led to losses of £5 million a year.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak’s Windsor Framework, which outlined trade rules for Northern Ireland following withdrawal from the EU, failed to address the ban and the UK Travel Retail Forum wants the anomaly corrected.
Forum chair Nigel Keal said: “The return of duty free post-Brexit has proven incredibly popular with consumers, with overseas retailers seeing significant increases in sales of duty free goods to departing UK passengers.
“This has been a crucial financial support as the aviation and travel retail sectors recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Preventing airports and businesses in Northern Ireland from accessing this revenue stream is unfair. It puts them at a competitive disadvantage to the rest of the UK, and to the rest of Europe.
“The travel retail industry is calling on the Westminster government and the EU Commission to work together to level the playing field, and bring the rules on duty free at Northern Irish airports in line with rules at their British and European counterparts.”