Sir, - Some ideas travel well, and it is an Irish one which has done just that, and withstood the test of time. From their fragile beginning in Rineanna, duty-free outlets have mushroomed, and can now be found in almost every international airport in the world. On first appearances, these facilities would seem to be an added service to the hard-pressed traveller - the icing on the cake, as it were. But let's not be fooled. Far from being an Aladdin's Cave for tourists, duty-free shops are, in fact, a gold-mine for airport authorities - a monument to commercialism and cynicism.
From the moment the intending passenger steps into the terminal building - "check-in at least one hour before departure" - everything is geared to separating the victim from his money. Because of the excessively long interval between check-in and boarding, an individual will find himself with an hour or longer to kill. And being, so to speak, a virtual prisoner within the airport confines (one daren't stray far for fear of missing an important announcement), what better way to while away the time than by partaking of an overpriced sandwich and cup of tepid coffee, followed by a trip through the hallowed portals of the restricted area - and a sojourn in the duty-free area.
The whole concept of duty-free flies (if you'll pardon the pun) in the face of both airline efficiency and safety. Think about it - 300 passengers on a Boeing 747, with the permitted one litre of duty-free whiskey and two litres of wine apiece, amount to not only a tonne of excess weight to be carried by the airline from one airport to the other (where the same goods are available), but also, and more worryingly, constitute a hazard in that approximately 60 gallons of highly-inflammable liquid in fragile containers (the bottles of spirits) are allowed to travel in the passenger compartment.
So why, do I hear you ask, do airport authorities not agree to sell duty-free goods on arrival, rather than departure? Because research has shown that, on arrival, travellers are anxious to reach their ultimate destinations - be these home, hotel, or holiday camp - promptly, and would not be inclined to dally, regardless of what "bargains" lie before them.
From this it can be surmised that the motives behind the "Save the Duty Free" movement are not entirely altruistic. Far from it. Opportunism is alive and well, and playing at an airport near you. - Yours, etc., D. K. Henderson,
Castle Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin 3.