Shinsegae Duty Free`s Myeong-dong store in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEJONG, Oct. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — In-flight duty-free sales rose between June and September this year, data showed Sunday, defying market expectations that they may decline after the opening of on-arrival duty-free shops.
South Korea’s first on-arrival duty-free stores opened at Incheon International Airport in late May in a bid to reduce discomfort experienced by tourists and boost domestic consumption.
Despite the opening of on-arrival duty-free shops, in-flight duty-free sales rose by 6.3 billion won (US$5.3 million) on-year to 100.6 billion won during the cited period, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.
On-arrival duty-free stores reported sales of 5.3 billion won in June, 4.1 billion won in July, 4.7 billion won in August and 4.3 billion won in September, the data showed.
In-flight duty-free sales were reported at 1.1 trillion won between 2016 and September this year.
Korean Air Lines Co. and Asiana Airlines Inc. posted sales of 628.1 billion won and 363.7 billion won, respectively, from in-flight duty-free shopping over the three years and nine months, the data showed.
(Yonhap)
